Full Moon
by ElenaxoxoSilber
Summary: Hayley McCall has a dark past that haunts her every day of her 17 year old life. Just as she's reaching a normal point in her life her brother, Scott, gets bitten by a werewolf and she meets mystery man Derek Hale. In other words, all hell breaks loose in the boring town of Beacon Hills.
1. Wolf Moon

"You've got to be freaking kidding me." I bluntly stated staring at the two boys I new way to well hovering over my bed.

"Shhhh! You're gonna wake up mom." Scott McCall—my brother slash technically cousin—whispered.

"Hayley come on! They only found half of the body!" Stiles Stilinski cried.

"It's like 1 AM! We've got school in the morning." I reminded, running a hand through my messy hair. Not that I cared about school, but all I wanted to do was sleep.

"Yes, so what better way to end the summer than looking for a dead body?"

"I hate both of you so much." I groaned, rolling my eyes. The two boys smiled and pulled me out of the comfort of my own bed.

* * *

Cold wind slapped my cheeks as I trekked through the woods, my best friends at my side. I pointed my flashlight down, making sure I didn't trip on the piles of wet leave that drenched the forest floor.

"I can't believe we're doing this." I stated.

"You're the one always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town. Besides, it's our last night of summer freedom." Stiles went on.

"I was trying to get a good night's sleep for practice tomorrow." Scott sighed, hoping to actually play on the Lacrosse team this year.

"Right," I dragged on, "because sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort. Exhausting." I sarcastically spat.

"Hey." Scott frowned.

"In my defense I'm cranky when I don't get my sleep." I defended.

"But really, I'm playing this year. In fact, I'm going to make starting lineup." He proudly said. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from bursting out laughing. Scott was bad at lacrosse to say the least. He was severely asthmatic, couldn't run five feet without stopping, and got hit with the ball more times than he ever caught it.

"That's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream. Even a pathetically unrealistic one." Stiles oh so kindly supported. Scott frowned once more, feeling uncomfortable.

"Anyways," I moved on, "just out of curiosity since you dragged us all the way out here, which half of the body are we looking for?" I wondered.

"Huh. I didn't even think about that."

"And what if whoever killed the girl is still out here?" Scott asked.

"Also something I didn't think about." My eyes rolled at Stiles' reply.

"Comforting to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail." Scott sarcastically commented.

"If we get killed I'm blaming you." I added. Scott took a puff of his inhaler as Stiles raced off. As we rushed to catch up with our overly excited friend, he pulled us both to the ground and pointed his flashlight forward.

"God Stiles." I complained as my stomach ached from hitting the floor, "this isn't exactly a Bourne movie if you haven't noticed." I spat.

"Shhhh!" He barked and focused on the scene in front of us. Police were swarming the area. German Shepherd's were sniffing the ground as officers were pointing their flashlights at random trying to find any clues. I'd never seen anything like this—in person at least. These were the type of things you saw on opening scene of crimes shows, not in the middle of the night in Beacon Hills. The small town wasn't used to this. Petty shopliftings would make the headlines.

"Let's go!" Stiles raced forward.

"Stiles, wait!" Scott called as he took another puff of his inhaler. The two of us shot up and ran to catch up with him. I failed to notice Scott stopping to catch his breath so I kept on running. Stiles' silhouette was up ahead but he was getting farther and farther away.

"Stiles!" I tried to discreetly call.

"Stay right there!" A deep voice yelled. I stopped in my tracks and pressed my back against the tree I was next too. As I began thinking of every lie to get myself out of the situation I was in, I realized I didn't have to. Whoever the voice was wasn't talking to me. It was directed towards Stiles; he was the one that got caught.

Bringing my attention back to the chaos, Stiles looked like a deer in headlights. Officers were running towards him and finally, Stiles realized this wasn't his best idea.

"Hold it. This little delinquent belongs to me." Said Sherriff Stilinski, also known as Stiles' dad. He didn't expect anything less. Stiles struggled to stand up and tried laughing off the situation.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Do you listen to all my phone calls?"

"No," Stiles hesitated, "not the boring ones."

"Where are your usual partners in crime?"

"Partners in crime? Wh—what? No, it's just me. In the woods. Alone."

"Scott? Hayley?" The Sherriff called loudly, shooting his flashlight around in hopes of catching us. "Come out now and we won't have a problem!" I didn't move. "Where are they?" He sighed, sick of playing games.

"They're home asleep." For once, Stiles sounded like he was telling the truth. Sherriff Stilinski took hold of Stiles and began lecturing him as he walked him to where he parked his Jeep. I cursed under my breath as I watched the Sherriff disappear with Stiles. The search was called off for the night

"Damn it!" I cried. "We're stranded." I pulled out my phone from my maroon jacket pocket to see I had no service. Of course not, why would you need service in the middle of the woods?

"Come on, we'll try to find a main road and go from there."

"Yeah, if you can last that long." I muttered as Scott toyed with his inhaler. Thunder rolled overhead and it began drizzling. _Great, just freakin' great._ We walked in silence, our hearts racing every time we heard the hoot of an animal nearby.

"Come on." Scott comforted after my head had shot up to look at the top of the trees, to see who was the culprit of the eerie hoot that had echoed through the woods. We trekked on, getting what seemed to be further and further into the woods.

"This can't be right." I shook my head. "The woods are getting thicker, we can't be going the right way." Scott paused to take a hit of his inhaler. The inhaler rattled as he shook it and stared ahead into the darkness of the woods. I could hear movement coming from where he was staring and my brows furrowed. Before having the chance to say something, a heard of deer came charging towards us. Scott and I screamed as we were trampled to the ground. My body ached as I hit the ground and kept going. I rolled through piles of leaves, broken branches, and pointy rocks. Finally, I came to a stop as my back slammed against a tree trunk. I hissed in pain and struggled to get up. A warm wetness seeped through one of the knees of my leggings. In the distance I could here Scott lightly scream but I was still in a state of shock I hardly recognized it. I rolled up the black cotton fabric of my pants to see a gash across my knee—the skin stained with dark red blood. I stood up, and brushed the damp soil off my sweatshirt and the leaves off of my hair.

"Scott?" I called as my eyes darted around. Every square inch of this place looked the same, I had no clue where I came from. I couldn't tell what was left or right.

"Scott, come on this isn't funny." I waited for a reply but there was none. "Scott, let's go." The only answer to my plea was the hoots of owls and chirps of crickets. "Scott?" I meekly called once more. Something felt wrong. It was the sickening feeling that rushed through your spine right before something bad was going to happen. And if it was right on cue, Scott's scream pierced the silence.

"Scott?" I yelled in fear and started to run, "Scott, where are you?" My heart pounded against my chest as I felt my legs give out from under me as something—running so fast that it was just a blurred shadow—forcefully pushed me down. There was a shrill ringing in my ears as my left temple smashed against an uplifted root.

"Ugh." I quietly groaned. White dots floated around my vision. The more I blinked to attempt to make them disappear the more they multiplied. My head spun a hundred miles per hour as I tried to get up and go find Scott—wherever he had disappeared too. Standing up was nauseating; the ground below me felt like it was moving. I could feel a liquid drip down from my nose. My fingers ghosted over my upper lip and came back with traces of blood on the tips. A gasp escape through my lips and I immediately wiped the blood away on the hazy sleeve of my jacket. Another one of Scott's screams pierced the silent air.

"Scott." My voice was strained as I called out for my brother. The woods were spinning all around me as I struggled to stay in place. "Scott, help." My pleading yell turned into a whisper as I could feel myself losing consciousness. I tried taking a step forward but I only got so far—I stumbled back onto the ground only to land on my hands and knees. The chirps of crickets and the rustling of trees faded out and all I could hear was my breathing echoing in my head. It was so loud I could barely hear the sound of footsteps heading towards me. As the footsteps got closer and I could hear leaves crunching under the person's feet. My head felt heavier than my whole body and it wouldn't move. My eyes opened and closed and my vision focused and blurred on the dirt below me. After opening my eyes once more I could see the blurry shadow of a pair of dark shoes right in front of me.

"Scott?" I tried to call out as my vision distorted even more and finally everything turned black.

* * *

There was one thing I hated most about mornings and it was when I opened my eyes to see my room bright and cheerful—very much unlike myself. It was simple: I wasn't a morning person. And I definitely wasn't a morning person when I was running on such little sleep thanks to going out last night.

Just like that, I gasped and shot up in bed.

Last night…I tripped and knocked myself out. Unless I was dreaming, there was no way I was in my room. I didn't remember coming back here let alone putting myself in bed with an ice pack—which had fallen onto my comforter—for my head.

"Ow." I muttered as I lightly touched my temple to see if it still hurt. It did.

"Are you okay? I heard you wake up." Scott bust open the door and ran into my room.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I rubbed the side of my head and mentally shook the pain off. "What happened last night?"

"We got separated. When I got back here I found you already in bed. You got back before me."

"Wait, you didn't take me home?" I asked, glaring at my brother in confusion.

"No…you were already here. I didn't want to wake you up you were sound asleep."

"I guess I blacked out from hitting my head and walked home." I thought. Why didn't I remember walking all the way home? Did I hitchhike? Was that even possible at one in the morning? The unknown answer was bothering me until I was overcome with another question. "Why were you screaming? Oh my God, are you okay?"

"Yeah for the most part." Scott lifted up his shirt to reveal a white square of gauze taped over his side. He watched me go into shock. "I got bit by something."

"That's not just something, Scott. That looks serious."

"I think it was a wolf."

"Do we have wolves here?" I've run through those woods so many times, I've never seen a wolf on the trails.

"Well if one bit me we sure do." He let his shirt back down. "You won't believe what else happened: I found the other half of the body."

"You're kidding me." I stated. "What are you, a bloodhound? How'd you manage to sniff out that?" I kicked off the covers and swung my legs over my bed, looking at Scott. He was surprised to see I was still in last night's dirty clothes. And frankly, I was too.

"I found it after the deer were running. And on top of everything I lost my inhaler too. After school we've got to go look for it." Ugh, that was right. Today was the first day of school. Joy.

"Fifty square miles of woods for one little inhaler." I sighed, standing up and stretching my aching body. "Good luck with that." I walked past Scott, giving him a pat on the shoulder and heading to the shower to get ready for the dreaded day.

* * *

A half hour into my first class I already contemplated if a high school education was really worth it. Somehow, Scott and I always managed to have English together every year. Not disappointing us once again, we were put into the same class. With Stiles nonetheless. I sat in my uncomfortable desk seat reading the same line of the fifth chapter of Kafka's Metamorphosis seventeen times already. I couldn't focus on much when the only thought buzzing around my head was what had bit Scott. I personally thought he needed to go get checked for rabies but he disagreed claiming that if mom found out, she'd kill him. The door to the English room opened and in came Vice Principle Thorne and a petite brunette girl. VP Thorne cleared his throat demanding attention from the entire class, but everyone was too busy looking at the new girl.

"Class, this is your new student Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome." He stated. Allison's eyes shifted around the room before she uncomfortably made her way to take a seat behind Scott. The second the girl took her seat Scott turned to her and handed her a pen. Allison's doe eyes gleamed as she looked to Scott in amazement.

"Thanks" Her lips curled up into a huge smile as she took the pen from his hand.

Only half hour into the new school year and Scott had the hots for new girl. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

The school day ended quicker than usual. Scott and Stiles had quickly geared up in their lacrosse uniforms and we had finally made our way over to the field. Lacrosse players were running everywhere as they were practicing before the actual practice.

"How about the both of you try to not sit on the bench this year? Sounds fair to me." I suggested.

"I can't sit out again! I've spent my whole life sitting on the sidelines. This season I make first line." Scot confidently said.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Scotty." I patted him on the back and walked over to the bleachers where Beacon Hill's red headed princess, Lydia Martin, was sitting with the new girl.

How could I explain my relationship with Lydia? Well, it was complicated. We weren't exactly friends, but we weren't enemies. The two of us used to be somewhat close but we had a fall out. It wasn't a big loss; we were two completely different people. All she cared about was shopping and herself. Lydia Martin was oblivious to everything. My head craned over to the other set of bleachers, seeing if there was anywhere else I could sit besides within five feet of Lydia. Just my luck, every spot was filled. I took a seat on the bottom bleacher as Lydia's ice-cold glare stared me down. She gave me a light smile. I returned it. For some reason, coach put Scott in the goal and he didn't look too happy about it. Scott was staring my way and I gave him a sympathetic smile, praying he wouldn't make a fool of himself.

"Who's that?" Allison timidly asked Lydia. I focused my hearing in on the two's conversation.

"Him?" She asked. "I'm not sure who he is." Lydia may have been the schools princess but she was definitely no Einstein. Again, she was oblivious to everything. In all the years she knew me, she never put two and two together that both McCalls were related. Rolling my eyes, I turned around to face to the two girls.

"His names Scott." I told her and my eyes shifted to Lydia. "Not that you would learn his name in the seven years you've known him." I mumbled.

"Oh," Allison's cheeks reddened, "sorry, who are you?"

"Hayley. Also known as Scott's sister."

"Oh." She perked up. "You're in my English class, right?"

"Yup." I popped the 'p'. "Welcome to Beacon Hills." I feigned my cheerful attitude and looked at the girl with a smirk. I turned back around in my seat and proceeded to watch my brother go from a horrible lacrosse player who couldn't catch a ball if his life depended on it to a champ. After he kept focusing he caught every ball headed his way, including the one Jackson Whittemore, Lydia's stuck up boyfriend, had chucked his way. I could contain my shock. My mouth hung open and my eyes narrowed as I stared down the scene, not believing this was happening.

* * *

The soles of my shoes sunk into the ground. With a groan, I pulled out the dirt-covered heel. Great. That would never come out. Although, looking back on it wearing a pair of one hundred and fifty dollar boots in the woods probably wasn't my brightest idea. Actually, coming in the woods while the killer was still at large wasn't my brightest idea.

"You both do realize that if the killer is still in the woods we're all dead, right?" I asked in the middle of Scott rambling on about the miracle work that happened on the field earlier. None of us understood how it happened.

"Well, then we're screwed." Stiles shrugged, shoving his hands into his jacket pocket. Scott ignored the two of us, still thinking about how he was suddenly an athlete.

"I don't know what it was. It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. And that's not the only weird thing! I hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear, smell things…"

"Smell things? Like what?" Stiles laughed.

"Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket!"

"I don't have any mint moji—" Stiles was cut off as he rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a piece of green gum in a wrapper. Stiles and I looked to Scott in utter amazement.

"And I heard you talking to Allison and Lydia about me earlier like I was right beside you." He told me.

"You were on the field, it's not the impossible." I shrugged it off.

"So, all this started with the bite?" We continued walking.

"What if it's like an infection? Like my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock?" Scott fretted.

"You know what, I actually think I've heard of this." Stiles spoke up.

"You're kidding me, right?" I barked a laugh.

"No. It's a specific kind of infection."

"Are you serious?" We stopped walking again as Scott's eyes widened to the size of softballs.

"Yeah, I think it's called Lycanthropy." Stiles said.

"What is that? Is that bad?" Scott looked from Stiles to me in horror.

"So bad." I exclaimed. I chomped down on my lip trying to contain myself.

"Oh yeah, it's the worst. But only once a month."

"Once a month?" Scott was oblivious to everything.

"Mhm. On the night of the full moon." And with that, Stiles howled. I broke into a laughing fit.

"You two suck!" Scott cried.

"Calm down, wolf man." I laughed. Stiles gave me a high five.

"Hey, you're the one that heard a wolf howling."

"There could be something seriously wrong with me!"

"I know! You're a werewolf! Grrr!"

"Cut it before we give him a heart attack." I laughed, rolling my eyes as Scott stared me down.

"Okay, obviously I'm kidding! But if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find it's because Friday's a full moon."

"I'll pick up some stakes on my way to work." I smirked, Stiles giving me another high five once more. "Okay, okay. For real. I'm done." I held up my hands in defense as Scott looked like he wanted to strangle Stiles and I. Scott stopped in his place and began looking around.

"I could have sworn this was it. I saw the body, the deer came running, I dropped my inhaler." Scott began looking through the leaves.

"Maybe the killer moved the body." Scott thought.

"If he did I hope he left my inhaler, those things are like eighty bucks."

"Wait till mom finds out." I scoffed, shifting my weight and turning around on my heel.

"Oh my God." I quiet gasp escaped through my lips as I locked eyes with a stranger standing several yards from us. I'd never seen him before and the way he looked at me, he hadn't either. Something sparked in his eye that triggered recognition as he looked at my face. The mystery man had milky skin that looked even paler since he wore black head to toe. His jaw clenched as he began walking towards us. I broke my gaze away from him, as I looked to my sides to see that Scott and Stiles were both aware of the man.

"What are you doing here?" Mystery man finally spoke up. None of us knew what to say. "Huh? This is private property."

"Sorry, we didn't know." I apologized. His piercing green eyes stared through me and it sent a shiver down my spine.

"Yeah, we were just looking for something, but, um, forget it." Scott stammered. Green Eyes rolled his eyes, reached into his pocket, and threw something towards my brother who miraculously caught it. I stared at Scott's palm to see him holding his inhaler. My brows formed a tight line and I looked back up. Green Eyes harshly glared at us before turning around and hastily walking off. The three of us stood in silence for half a second before we tried to shake off the more than strange experience we just went through.

"Alright, come on, I've got to get to work." Scott piped up. I nodded and looked to Stiles to see his mouth hanging open.

"Guys," Stiles exclaimed, "that was Derek Hale!"

"_That_ was Derek Hale?" I asked.

"Yeah, you guys remember right? He's only like a few years older than us."

"Remember what?" Scott asked.

"His family died." I distinctly remembered. It only happened a few years after I came to Beacon Hills.

"They all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago." Stiles elaborated. I swallowed a lump in my throat. I remembered the headlines in the paper very well: _Beacon Hills Family Involved in Tragic Fire, 8 Dead_. There were only two survivors, though I didn't remember who the other one besides Derek was. I didn't know who he was at the time, but I still felt for the guy. Nobody deserved to lose their family at such an early age.

I could easily vouch for that.

* * *

I survived the first day of school…mostly. It was half past ten and I was making a failed attempt to finish up the homework and wait up for Scott. He had called a little after nine to say he was closing up at work and would be home soon but here we were almost two hours later with no Scott. My mom—who was technically my aunt—was out late again working the late shift at Beacon Hills Hospital. She was a nurse for the E.R and, recently, the Long Term Care Facility section of the hospital. Money was rough around here, even with the three of us working. My legs ached of exhaustion as I sat crisscrossed on top of my comforter. I picked up my phone to check the clock again. I waited up long enough for Scott; he was old enough to not have his sister waiting up for him with the lights on. Suddenly, I could hear the front door open and slam shut followed by footsteps rushing up the stairs.

"Welcome back." I called, shutting the screen to my laptop and tossing my notebook to the side of my bed.

"You won't believe what happened when I was closing up tonight!" Scott exclaimed as he rushed into my room, his clothes damp from the rain outside.

"You got bit by another wolf." I smirked, still milking the werewolf joke from earlier.

"I got a date for Jackson's party on Friday!" He squealed like a little girl. My eyes widened, wondering if I heard my brother right.

"First of all, when do you go to parties—specifically Jackson parties? And second of all, who?"

"Allison!" Scott's grin was from ear to ear and hearts were dancing in front of his eyes. "She's the new girl."

"Look at you, asking out a girl _and_ kicking Jackson's ass at practice. All on your first day too."

"I know. I really have a feeling this is gonna be a good year, Hayley." Scott happily sighed as he leaned against a wall.

* * *

The gravel blurred underneath my sneakers as I synchronized my footsteps to the beat of my music pulsating through my headphones. My lungs burned in a good way—if that was even possible. The Beacon Hills Nature Trail was my favorite place to run. It was tucked away inside the preserve and far from all human contact. It was the place I came when I wanted to get away. I had a lot on my mind and not enough hours in the day to deal with it. It had been a stressful few days in the McCall house; Scott to thank for all of it. Friday had been taunting me since I woke up at six AM Tuesday morning. Scott had been hocking me non-stop about going to Jackson's party to keep an eye on him and Allison. I'd been planning on going, but not to babysit him on his big boy play date. He'd also been nauseatingly confident since he inexplicably managed to make first line of the lacrosse team earlier this afternoon. A mixture of that and having a date with a pretty girl was getting to his head. My brother knew I wanted some down time to myself, but if I wasn't at work or at school, he begged me to help him practice on the field. As I was about to push my pace, I was more than disappointed to feel my phone vibrating in the waistband on my leggings. I quickly came to a stop; my Nike's kicking up dirt and I yanked out my headphones to replace them with my phone to my ear.

"What's up, Stiles?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.

"Where's Scott?" He yelled.

"How should I know?" I retorted. "I thought he went to your place."

"He did, he did. You need to try to get a hold of him. We need to find him and take him back—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I interrupted as Stiles continued rambling on. "Okay, you're cut off from Adderall today. But, I don't know where he is. I'm not his baby sitter. He probably went home."

"Where are you? Are you not home?"

"No, Stiles. What's the problem?"

"Scott can't go to that party with Allison tonight!"

"Don't be jealous he's got a hot date."

"No, no! Remember when we were joking about a werewolf biting Scott? It's not a joke anymore! I've been doing research all day. He's turning into a werewolf….Hayley? Are you still here?"

"And by here would you mean Beacon Hills or Forks, Washington? Bye, Stiles."

"Wait, wait, wait! Hayley, I'm serious. He just stormed out of my room. He attacked me. He left claw marks on my chair!"

"Ah, so he can grow claws now."

"Please believe me. We can't let him go to that party. Tonight's the full moon!"

"Yes, and Scott's not the only one it's making crazy." I rolled my eyes, impatiently tapping my foot on the ground.

"God, you McCall's are so damn stubborn! Please, go home and see if he's there. He's not answering his phone. You have to stop him."

"You're over convincing yourself on this. He's not turning into anything but a kick ass lacrosse player."

"But they found wolf hair on the body."

"Wolf hair, not werewolf hair. Take a reality check, Stiles. It's the Adderall talking." Stiles heavily sighed through the phone and I could imagine him mentally slapping himself.

"I'll pick you up at nine?" Stiles finally moved on.

"Please and thank you." I hung up the phone and stared at it for a second before shaking my head. Scott? A werewolf? Yeah, right. I silently laughed to myself as I put my phone back into my waistband and popped my headphones back in, taking off in a sprint towards my house.

* * *

My heeled booties clicked on the marble floors as I walked into Jackson's mansion. Dance music was blaring from several expensive sets of speakers; it pulsated the walls and shook the glass dining room table being used for beer pong. All I could see was a sea of red cups. The house was hot and loud. Drunken teenagers were screaming of joy and dancing around scandalously with one another. I rolled my eyes, silently wondering why I actually wanted to come.

Oh right, the free alcohol.

Stiles and I pushed our way past the herds of intoxicated teens and went straight outside to find the bar. Immediately, a wall of cold air hit me and I cringed as all I could smell was beer and cigarettes. On the patio, girls were dancing and chugging their spiked beverages like it was water. It was only another reminder that I was too sober for this.

"Didn't think I'd see you here." A giggling voice came up to me as I reached the bar. Lydia was pouring herself a drink.

"Yeah, yeah. Just pour me a drink, princess." I smirked. The red head grabbed a red cup and poured in coke and lemon flavored Bacardi. It was my favorite drink and Lydia had managed to remember.

"Cheers." She winked and after handing me the SOLO cup, she ran off after Jackson. Stiles came up beside me and grabbed a beer out of the cooler before giving me 'the-look'. 'The look' was the face Stiles gave me whenever he wanted me to become friends with Lydia again just to give her a suggestion to dump Jackson for him.

"No." I simply said before walking off in search for someone else that wouldn't bother me. It didn't take long to find Danny Mahealani, an openly gay Lacrosse player I'd been friends with ever since I came to Beacon Hills. We talked for some time while we both spied on Scott, who was cozying up to Allison fairly quickly. The girl looked at my brother with a smile tugging at her lips. The two were dancing to the beat of the music like no one else was around. I couldn't help but smile, wondering how in just one week everything was starting to work out for Scott. After downing the rest of my drink, I left Danny and his date in search for more alcohol.

"Scott? Scott?" I could hear Allison calling once I reached the bar. I looked over just in time to see the poor girl chasing after Scott, who looked to be stumbling his way inside the house. I dropped my cup onto the table and began following Allison. I forcefully pushed my way through the crowd until I made it to the front of the house. From the front door I watched Allison chase after Scott until she stopped at the end of the long driveway, feeling defeated as he got into my mom's car and drove off. I rushed down the set of stairs and stopped short next to Allison, watching the taillights of the beat up Toyota disappear down the road.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"I-I don't know. Did I do something wrong?"

"I highly doubt it." Scott was out of his mind.

"Scott was supposed to take me home by midnight. I—I don't know my way around this place well enough to walk." Allison stuttered, nervously picking at her cuticles.

"Allison." A hefty voice came from behind us. We turned around to see a leather clad Derek Hale standing a mere couple feet away from us. "Hayley, right?" He took a step closer. My eyes narrowed on the attractive man, curious how he knew my name and to why he was here. "I'm a friend of Scott's. My names Derek."

"A friend of Scotts? Since when?" I warily asked.

"I overheard you two needed a ride. I could help you out with that if you'd like." He offered, completely ignoring my question.

"Thanks but no thanks." I pursed my lips and nodded.

"She means of course." Allison corrected.

"Haven't your parents ever told you not to take a ride from strangers? Let's go, Allison." I tried to walk away but Allison quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"Hayley, please. I've got a curfew and if I don't make it back in time my dad is going to kill me. And Scott!" She added. I stared at Allison for a second before heavily sighing and mentally slapping myself in the face.

"Where too?" I gave a sickly fake smile. Derek led the two of us down the road a ways until we reached a sleek, black Camaro that caused me to loose my breath and mumble out an elongated '_damn'_. The guy had a nice face and a nice car.

I had hopped into the _oh-so-spacious_ back seat of the tiny sports car while Allison had gotten the honorable spot of shotgun. I figured she needed it more being her date ditched her. Literally. I stared out the small back window beside me to see a blur of black trees passing by us.

"Hey, Hayley?" Allison meekly spoke up.

"Hmm?" I was taken out of my day dream to look over to Allison.

"You, you haven't heard from Scott have you? He hasn't called you or anything, right?" I picked up my phone to see it was empty of any messages from my brother.

"No, I'll try him again though." I tried to ease Allison's nerves as she let a heavy sigh pass through her lips. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest as she tried to not let anger get the best of her.

"I don't understand what happened. He just ran out."

"I'll talk to him when I get home. There's got to be some logical reason in that messed up head of his." I smirked. She barely returned it, feeling terribly defeated at how horribly the night went. Another five minutes passed until we finally pulled up to Allison's house. The two of us got out of the car and I took her seat as she ran a hand through her hair looking at the time on her phone.

"Thanks again for the ride. I owe you one." She told Derek, who nodded as his reply.

"Bye, Hailey." Allison waved her fingers and walked up the driveway to her house. Derek threw the Camaro back into drive and took off racing down the road. The ride was silent for a few minutes and I occupied myself by watching the full moon play hide and seek between the tall pine trees. My eyes peaked over to look at Derek. His knuckles were white from holding the steering wheel so tight. His jaw was clenched. I could almost feel how tense he was.

"So _Derek Hale_," my voice cut through the awkward silence, "since when did you become all buddy-buddy with my brother? Last time I checked he didn't know you." He turned his head towards me, his green eyes examining my every movement and breath.

"What's your address?" My eyes rolled when he deflected my question. I glanced at him waiting for an answer to my question but he didn't seem like he was going to break anytime soon.

"3250 Covington Avenue." I simply answered. My street soon came into few and I felt a wave of comfort wash over me. But unfortunately, it quickly disappeared as Derek continued down the road.

"You were supposed to turn there." I said. Derek looked at me, his eyes dark and menacing, and his foot stepped on the gas again. My face paled considerably. "Where are we going?" I asked with the bravest voice I could muster.

"I have to make a stop."

"I can walk from here." I disagreed, my fingers dancing over the door handle.

"You don't want to walk home; especially on a night like this. It's dangerous out there." I swallowed the hard lump growing in my throat. From the corner of my eye I could see the bright full moon glowing in all its glory. Suddenly, Stiles' crazy story from earlier didn't seem so crazy after all. My heart began beating faster and faster.

"Stiles was right, wasn't he?" I timidly asked. My eyes couldn't focus on Derek, the most interesting thing at the moment seemed to be his radio. "You heard us joking in the woods that day." I figured. "There's no way it's possible." The car finally came to a stop as the headlights shone on a sign that said 'Beacon Hills Preserve, No Entry After Dark'.

"Get out of the car and I'll show you." Derek turned the car off. My jaw clenched and my heart pounded erratically against my chest, beginning to figure if he was the one who killed the girl out here in the woods. Seeing I made no effort to move as I stared him down, Derek took different measurements.

"Get out of the car." He demanded, his eyes melting from a soft green to an electric ice blue. I did what he said and before I knew it, I was being dragged through the woods. My teeth chomped against my bottom lip as I panicked, wondering if I would have the same fate as my parents.

"Come on Derek, you don't want to kill me. Allison knows I'm with you, everyone will know you did it." I seethed.

"I didn't say anything about killing you." He spat. "I need to find Scott. You're just helping me."

"I'm not gonna be your puppet—" I was cut short when a growl interrupted me mid sentence. I slowly turned around, my eyes wide with fear as Scott stood mere feet from Derek and I. A shaking breath left my throat as I stared at my brother. His face was deformed—his ears ending in a point, fang descending from his eyeteeth, and his eyes glowing a golden yellow. Razor sharp claws replaced Scott's short, bitten nails.

"Don't touch my sister!"

"Scott?" I quietly asked, not recognizing my own sibling.

"She's safe. From you." Derek answered. I took a step back. Scott's body flinched to launch himself at the other wolf, but Derek beat him to it. Before I knew it, the two were rolling around the ground until Derek had my brother pinned against a tree.

"What did you do to her?" Scott yelled.

"Quiet…too late. They're already here. Run." Derek demanded and ran off. "Hide!" he ordered, pulling my wrist in the opposite direction of Scott. I gasped as I could see a flash of light over where Scott was standing and Derek pushed my behind a boulder.

"Stay hidden and don't say a word." He threatened before disappearing. I wrapped my hand over my mouth to calm my heavy breathing and I tried listening in on what was going on—or who the 'they' were that were here. Scott's cry made my heart jump out of my chest. Everything was happening so quickly but I wasn't sure what everything was. I could hear an unfamiliar mans voice along with the grunts and gasps of other men. Leaves were rustling and people were falling. Preparing myself for the worst, I quickly unzipped my heeled boots and grasped them tightly in my hand. My bare feet shivered as they touched the damp soil. It wasn't long after that when Derek came back, Scott in tow, and grabbed my forearm and started running. Getting the picture, I yanked my arm from him and began running as fast as I could alongside Scott. When Scott thought we were safe enough from whomever those men were, he collapsed against a tree. I dropped my shoes to the ground and kneeled down to comfort him.

"Who was that?" I asked as Scott tried to catch his breath.

"Hunters. The kind who have been hunting us for centuries." Derek answered.

"Us? You mean you! You did this to me!" Scott bellowed, tears brimming his eyes. I watched Derek's expression. His jaw clenched as he took a pause.

"Is it really so bad, Scott? That you could see better? Hear more clearly? Move faster than any human could ever hope? You've been given something that most people would kill for. The bite is a gift."

"I don't want it." Scott retorted. I stood up as Scott fell back against the tree and let Derek and him have their moment.

"You will. And you're going to need me if you want to learn how to control it." Derek took a step forward and held Scott against the tree. "So you and me Scott, we're brothers now." Derek hissed. He took one last long look at Scott, then me, before disappearing into the woods. Scott fell down, clenching his arm in pain.

"Let me help, I can stop the bleeding." I whispered, putting pressure on the wound.

"Aren't you scared of me?" A tear dripped down Scott's face.

"Scared? No. Shocked? Yeah." I sighed.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry this chapter is so long! Just wanted to get it all out there :] Welcome to my new story! You may know me as the writer of The Chosen, aka Katherine Hemmings' story but I decided to also make another TW story! Got this idea in my head the other day and it just kept going. Hope you enjoy! Check out my polyvore for Hayley's outfits!_


	2. Second Chance At First Line

Being that I lived in the same house as Scott, dodging him wasn't exactly an option. It was hard to keep distance from my own brother, so I did what I did best: I sucked it up. Over the weekend I decided to be a big girl and help Scott through this—even though I wasn't exactly so sure how to help him.

It was yet another Monday in the not-so-boring-anymore town of Beacon Hills and I had been swamped with work from the second I got up this morning. I hadn't seen Scott all day and frankly, I was worried. At the tender hour of eight o'clock I walked in the front door with my keys jingling in hand.  
"I'm back." I wearily called, dropping my backpack onto the ground, "Thank God." I muttered. My mom, dawning a pair of navy scrubs, came down the stairs with her purse hanging over her shoulder.

"How was work?" Mom asked, reaching the bottom stair.

"The usual." I shrugged.

"Has Scott ever taken any drugs?" Uh—wait what? That was unexpected. Mom continued as I stared at her with a more than confused expression on my face. "Or is he on any right now? You'd tell me if he was, right?"

"Yeahhhh," I dragged on, "I'm gonna go shower." I avoided.

"You're not on any, right?" Mom awkwardly added with a laugh. I raised my brows and turned around once I reached the second stair. Did she really think I was doing drugs? I mean _maybe_ a few years ago yeah but not now. Mom and I looked at each other in silence before she laughed the situation off. "I figured you weren't. I'm a good mom. A good mom whose got to get to work, crap I'm late. Bye, baby I'll be back later." Mom darted out the door and left me alone in the foyer. That was by far the weirdest conversation we've ever had. I trudged up the stairs and into Scott's room to find him lying helplessly on his bed.

"Should I be concerned that mom's asking me if you're pill popping?"

"No." He heavily sighed.

"God, who died in here?" I wondered, seeing how depressed Scott looked.

"Any future I had with Allison." He whined.

"What, she didn't accept your apology?"

"No, worse. Her dad is one of the hunters from the woods. He's the one that shot me." My mouth dropped being I was at a loss for words.

"If she knows something, you can't even go near her."

"Don't remind me!" Scott cried. "I like her so much. This can't be happening."

"Okay here's a more reasonable solution: stay away from her until you learn how to control yourself."

"Which could be never for all we know."

"I'm not saying I trust Derek but he does know how to control himself. Maybe you should ask him for help just so you can get through the game on Saturday."

"The dudes threatening me into not playing. He creeps me out."

"Yeah well you heard him, you guys are brothers now. You'll probably go hunt deer and play fetch." I smirked.

"You're really not helping." Hey, I couldn't help but continue to milk the werewolf jokes. It was classic.

* * *

After one long, hot and steamy shower later, I felt all the dirt from work wash down the drain along with most of the day's problems. I never left the animal clinic without being covered in dog hair. It made me want to pull my hair out. I pulled on a pair of purple pajama shorts and slid on a white crop top. Wrapping my damp hair in a towel, I unlocked the bathroom door and came out continuing to dry it. The moment I stepped out into the hallway, someone came out of Scott's room. I looked up and was surprised, and slightly angry, to see Derek Hale.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" I asked, pulling the wet towel from the bottom of my hair.

"Giving Scott a warning." He simply answered, walking past me.

"Stop threatening him. Stay away from my brother and stay the hell out of my house." I venomously hissed, feeling my blood boil. I wouldn't let someone like Derek Hale take my best friend and my own family member away from me.

"You better make sure he doesn't play in that game." He threatened.

"Or what?" I spat back.

"Or he's going to shift and the both of us will end up dead." Derek stormed off down the stairs leaving me to think about what he said and what I thought about him. Derek wasn't actually trying to kill Scott; he was just trying to make sure he didn't end up dead. Sure I didn't like the guy but I liked how he though.

* * *

Apparently, Scott had smelled a dead body at Derek's house. So while him and Stiles were trying to dig up the groun it was buried in, I decided to skip out on the adventure and stay at Allison's house spending time with her. The two of us were sitting criss-crossed on her bed doing the English homework we were assigned too.

"I can't tell whether Kafka was majorly tripping or his mind was just that messed up." I asked, flipping through the pages of Metamorphosis, "I mean, how do you think of something this cryptic?"

"I think both." Allison sighed, highlighting a line of the text.

"Okay, spit it out. What's bothering you?" I wondered. Allison's head lifted up in surprise.

"W—What do you mean?"

"The tension in this room is suffocating me. What's up?" I asked again.

"I don't get what's going on with your brother." She sighed.

"I haven't known what's going through his head since the day I met him." I laughed.

"He keeps questioning me about Derek Hale. If they're friends I don't get what the problem is." God, I was going to kill myself for covering for Scott.

"They're like brothers," more than she'd ever know, "they fight. A lot."

"I still don't get it. He shouldn't be so uptight."

"He's having a rough week. Pressure of the first games getting to him."

"I never thought of that." Allison ran a hand through her brunette hair.

"That's Scott for you. Doesn't know how to handle his fifteen minutes of fame," I chuckled, "but I shouldn't be bashing him. He's a great guy. And that's not just me saying it because he's my brother."

"I can't believe you two are twins. You're so different." Allison thought as she laughed, closing her copy of the Metamorphosis.

"Oh God, no. I don't even know what I'd do if Scott was my twin. We're cou—completely different." I chewed on my lip trying to keep my mouth shut.

"Hmm," Allison thought, "Please don't tell me I'm making a mistake by giving him a second chance."

"You'll be fine." I assured, wishing we moved onto a different subject than my brother.

"What time do you want to go to the game on Saturday?"

"I was probably just gonna hitch a ride whenever my mom gets off work." I shrugged.

"Lydia and I are going to pick you up." Allison stated. "We can go have dinner, make signs, and stuff!"

"I don't know Allison…"

"Please? I'm trying to make as many friends as possible here." Of course, she was going to make me feel bad.

"Fine, fine." I sighed.

"Awesome! God, I'm so excited. You and Lydia seem so ama—" I tuned Allison's voice out as my phone began buzzing in front of me, alerting of a new incoming message. I picked up, quickly tapped in the four number pass code and saw the message was from Scott.

_I was right. We found it. _

Derek Hale was the Beacon Hills murderer. He killed the girl…and now we had the proof to get him arrested.

* * *

My arms were crossed tightly over my chest as I looked at the chaos surrounding the Hale house—or at least what was left of it. Police and coroner were swarming the property as they cornered areas off with caution tape. Scott and I stood beside each other as we watched a handcuffed Derek be escorted into custody and placed in a Beacon County police car. I could almost feel the pressure lift from Scott as he happily watched his enemy be detained. Me on the other hand, as glad I was a murderous werewolf was put away, something didn't feel right. Sure Derek was creepy, a pathological liar, and rude but he didn't seem capable of murdering the girl—especially if his family died in a fire. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and it was getting worse the longer I stood here. I tried to focus on something other than the wrenching in my stomach but it was hard staring down the burnt down dilapidated house in front of me. How could someone live in the memory of their dead family? I know I couldn't.

"Are you okay?" Scott noticed. I shifted my weight and pursed my lips.

"Yeah. You excited for the game tonight?" I tried changing the subject.

"I—no!" Scott whispered as we watched Stiles sneak into the police car Derek was put in. He was an idiot.

"Control him please." I sighed.

"He's your best friend too." Scott whined.

"I still don't understand even with his dad being the Sherriff how he hasn't been arrested yet." I shook my head. Seconds later, an angry Sherriff Stilinski went over to the cruiser and pulled his son out of the car to lecture him and soon enough told him to get in his Jeep and get the hell of the crime scene—taking us with him of course. In a matter of no time, we were back in Stiles' car heading back to his house. I sat in the back staring out the window, still wondering how Derek could stand to be in the vicinity of the same area where his loved ones died.

"I can't find anything about wolfsbane being used for burial." Scott sighed as he scrolled through his phone.

"Maybe it was something Derek was taught. It could even be a sign of remorse." I added.

"Just keep looking Maybe it's like a ritual or something. Maybe they bury you as a wolf. Or maybe it's like a special skill, something you have to learn!" Stiles thought.

"I'll put it on my to-do list. Underneath how the hell I'm playing this game tonight."

"Maybe it's different for girl werewolves." Stiles thought, ignoring Scott's words.

"Okay, stop it!" Scott cried.

"Stop what?"

"Saying werewolves! Stop enjoying it so much!" Scott clenched his jaw and his features tensed.

"Scott, calm down." I put a hand on his shoulder.

"I can't! I'm so far from okay!"

"You know, you're going to have to accept this, Scott. Sooner or later."

"I can't!"

"Well, you're going to have to!"

"No, I can't breathe!" Scott yelled, his arm flying up to clutch the ceiling of Stiles' jeep.

"Whoa-whoa—whoa!" Stiles repeated several times as he swerved the car off the road.

"Pull over! Pull over!" Scott growled, heaving in and out.

"Why, what's happening?"

"Stiles, just pull over!" I yelled. Scott looked beside him and opened the small duffle bag resting on his seat. He pulled out a dirt-covered rope with small purple flowers attached. Stiles showed me a picture of it last night—on top of the girl's dead body. It was wolfsbane.

"You kept it?" Scott screamed.

"What was I supposed to do with it?"  
"Stiles, pull over. Now!" I demanded.

"Stop the car!" Scott bellowed, his eyes glowing an eerie golden color. My heart skipped a few beats, as it was hard to recognize my own brother. Stiles slammed on the breaks, causing me to slam into the faux leather back of his seat. I grabbed the bag from Scott's seat and threw it at Stiles, who stumbled out of the car and ran. Meanwhile, Scott was clutching his head and opening the passenger door.

"Scott, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Stay away!" He hissed, his golden eyes sending daggers at me. With one last look, he ran out of the car and straight into the surrounding woods. "Scott!" It was useless. He disappeared.

"Okay, we're good." Stiles took a breath and walked back to the car. He stopped short in his tracks to see the passenger seat empty.

"We are far from good, Stiles!" I cried.

* * *

As planned, I went to the game with Allison and Lydia. Dinner and the car ride over in Lydia's tiny Volkswagen Beatle was awkward, but I was making the best of it. Lydia was being as friendly as possible—which made me fume because there was no reason to actually be mad at her.

"So you said your dad's meeting us here?" I asked Allison. I figured I'd need to keep an eye on the guy that shot my brother in the arm.

"Yeah. He texted me saying he was getting us some popcorn. He'll be right over!"

"How cute." Lydia cooed, holding the tacky supporting signs she made for Jackson. The game hadn't even started yet but people were herding the field like wild animals.

"How about right there?" Allison pointed to the half a row of empty seats on the bleachers. I nodded.

"Save me a seat, I'm going to go give Jackson a good luck kiss." Lydia giggled, fixing her earmuffs, which reminded me how cold it really was outside. The redhead happily trotted off and onto the field.

"Hey!" Allison yelled as she waved to someone in the crowd. "Over here. Hayley, this is my dad." Allison introduced.

"Chris." He smiled, his bright blue orbs staring me down. Mr. Argent jutted a hand forward, waiting for me to take it. Hiding my reluctance, I grabbed his hand and shook it firmly.

"Nice to meet you." I smiled. It wasn't soon before Lydia came back and we were all settled down for the start of the game. My mom finally showed up. She took a seat in front of us with Stiles' dad. She was surprised to say the least I was sitting with Lydia.

"Come on, Jackson." I muttered under my breath ten minutes into the game. He had just knocked down his own team member—specifically Scott. It wasn't hard to tell he didn't want Scott anywhere near the ball. Jackson wanted to be the star of this game. The crowd erupted in a roar as Jackson made the shot into the opposing team's goal. While Finstock cheered Jackson on, Lydia leaned over to Allison and whispered something in her ear. She bent down and picked up the 'We luv u Jackson' sign. Her and Allison held it up for the team to see. I silently cursed Lydia out, knowing that was going to hit Scott hard. After noticing the sign, Scott looked over to me with a pissed off expression written all over his face and finally ran off to his position on first line.

"Which one is Scott again?" Mr. Argent asked.

"Number eleven." Otherwise the only one who has yet to catch a single ball the entire game." Lydia stated as she eyed down the main players like they were pieces of meat.

"Lydia, give him a break." I spat.

"I hope he's okay." Allison thought aloud.

"I hope we're okay." Lydia corrected, shifting her eyes over to the scoreboard. We were down by two and we didn't have much time left. "We need to win this. Guys? A little help here?" She was holding the damn sign again—this time it said 'Jackson is #1' in big, bold letters. Allison sighed and stood up, holding the sign with the least effort she could put in. Lydia looked over to me, her perfectly arched eyebrows raised as she expected me to help hold the crappy sign.

"I think two peoples' enough." I pursed my lips. I sneakily eyed Scott, who had noticed Allison supporting his enemy, and noticed his demeanor changed. The referee's whistle blew once again as we were down to a little over a minute left in the last quarter. And just like that, Scott was off. He ran faster than I've ever seen and he dodged every opponent coming his way. He ran all the way across the field and hurled the lacrosse ball into the net, gaining the Beacon Hills Cyclones one point. My mom screamed the loudest while everyone but Lydia and I jumped up and cheered Scott on. I couldn't believe my own eyes. Had that really happened? Oh God, I hope his werewolf abilities weren't kicking in. That wouldn't be good. Especially with Chris Argent two feet away from me.

"Pass to McCall! Pass to McCall!" Finstock ordered as Stiles did a happy dance behind him. The ref's whistle was blown again and number 43 had managed to catch the ball, but soon gave it up and—literally—passed it to Scott. My mouth dropped and my heart began racing, knowing that there was something definitely supernatural about that. Scott ran off with the ball and managed to make another score just as the clock hit thirty-nine seconds. The score was tied five to five and everyone was counting on Scott to win this game.

"When did Scott get this good?" My mom asked with a laugh.

"You know, overnight." I shrugged. She laughed, taking it as a joke. After the ref's called the shot Scott made legal, Jackson and a guy for the other team were up head to head waiting for the whistle to blow. And when it did, Jackson was the first one to get it and he immediately passed it to Danny. In no time, the ball was back in the net of Scott's lacrosse stick. Scott was running like he was rabid and he looked for an open spot to shoot from as the other team was closing in on him like he was a trapped animal. This wasn't good.

"Don't do anything stupid. Don't do anything stupid." I chanted in a whisper. Two players began running to take down Scott but he reacted fast and threw the ball into the net just as the clock ran out of time. The buzzer went off and our score changed to six. We won. The crowd went wild and everyone ran onto the field—but three people. The first person was Scott, who was running off the field and towards the school building. The second person was me. I was standing on the bleachers in utter shock. I could hear my heart beating in my ears over the cheerful screams of the crowd. I didn't know how Scott managed to control his shift, but he did it. And the third person was the Sherriff, who was right in front of me with his phone pressed to his ear.

"Uh-huh. Yeah…" He spoke into the phone.

"Dad? What's wrong?" Stiles sat back down on the bench and asked.

"He's being released as we speak. It was animal hair on the body. No human prints are there." I could hear another officer respond on the other line.

"And are you sure?" Sherriff asked.

"Positive. The guy isn't an animal." The woman heavily laughed.

"It just doesn't make sense."

"You identified both halves yourselves. It was Laura Hale." My face paled considerably. I could feel all the blood in my body rush down to my legs and it left my fingers tingling. Stiles looked at me in confusion and I shook my head with wide eyes. "What can I say, would you kill the only remaining family you had left?"

"No, no. I guess you're right. Thank you, Tara." Sherriff sighed. I jogged off the bleachers and ran over to Stiles who was nervously awaiting me to tell him what I just heard.

"We need to go find Scott." I pulled him away from the bench and began walking across the field with him hastily.

"Who was on the phone with my dad?"

"Tara, it's—"

"Someone at the station I know who she is. What did she want?"

"They found animal hair on the girls body. They released Derek."

"What?" Stiles shrieked. I stopped in my place and Stiles ran a frustrated hand over his face. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Just wait, there's more."

"There's more? We're already dead for landing the guy in jail!"

"Yeah well this is worse." I sighed. "Your dad ID'ed both parts of the girl and found out her name was Laura Hale."

"Derek's sister?" Stiles cried.

"Derek's sister." I nodded. Stiles and I ran off to the locker room to warn Scott. Instead of finding a locker room filled with overly excited and sweaty guys, we found Scott sharing his first kiss with Allison in the dark.

"I got to get back to my dad." Allison whispered to Scott who nodded. She gave him one last kiss before walking off and spotting us awkwardly leaning behind the lockers, trying not to be oblivious. "Hi guys." She awkwardly waved.

"Yeah, hey…" The two of us simultaneously said. We waited until she was out of the locker room until we came out of our somewhat hiding place.

"I kissed her." Scott goofily smiled as he came up to us.

"I saw." Stiles nodded.

"She kissed me."

"Yeah, saw that too." I added. Scott couldn't wipe the smile off his lips. I hadn't seen him this happy in a while, and knowing that we were about to crash his high was depressing.

"It's pretty good, huh?" Stiles asked.

"I-I-I don't know how but I controlled it! I pulled it back! Maybe I can do this, maybe it's not that bad." Scott continued to smile.

"Yeah." Stiles awkwardly laughed.

"We're happy for you, Scott." I smiled.

"We'll talk later, then." Stiles patted my brother on the chest. Stiles and I went to turn around but Scott grabbed Stiles' shoulder and his smile finally disappeared.

"What?" He nervously asked. Stiles and I looked to each other and bit our lips.

"The medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found." Stiles started.

"And?"

"Well I'll keep it simple. Medical examiner determines killer of girl to be animal not human. Derek's human not animal. Derek not killer. Derek let out of jail."

"Are you kidding?"

"No. And here's a bigger kick in the ass. My dad ID'ed the dead girl—both halves—her name was Laura Hale."

"Hale?" Scott cried.

"Derek's sister." I sadly admitted. "We framed him on killing his own sister."

"Oh my God." Scott's eyes widened and he couldn't think of smiling at a time like this. We were in deep trouble. We needed to sleep with one eye open.

* * *

**A/N: Hello again! How sick was last Mondays teen wolf? I can't believe the whole wendigo thing! Insane! Anyways, Hayley's outfits are on polyvore! Review please and I'll update :]**


	3. Pack Mentality

"So that's it? You killed her?" I asked Scott, looking back and forth between Stiles and him. Scott knew I was no stranger to nightmares, especially vivid ones, so he thought he'd confide in me to discuss about the terror that had kept him up all of last night. Apparently, he had killed Allison inside a school bus after a steamy make out session. For the record, I could have gone without knowing about that part.

"I don't know. I just woke up." Scott shrugged. "I was sweating like crazy and I couldn't breath. I've never had a dream where I woke up like that."

"Really? I have. It usually ends a little differently." Stiles grinned.

"Ugh, I could have gone my whole life without knowing that." I groaned.

"A, I've never had a dream that felt that real and b, never give me that much detail about you in bed again."

"Noted." Stiles grinned.

"Do you think it has something to do with me going out with Allison tomorrow? Like I'm going to lose control and rip her throat out?" Scott wondered. We continued walking down the hallway.

"No, of course not." Stiles paused. "Yeah, that's totally it." I sighed.

"Nooo, it's not." I thumped Stiles head. "Nightmares come from the fear in the back of your mind. You're worried about killing her, hence the sexy little blood fest." I smirked.

"Are you sure?" Scott tugged on his lip with his teeth.

"Unlike Dr. McCall over here, I think you're going to be fine. Personally I think you're handling this pretty freakin' amazingly. You know, it's not like there's a lycanthropy for beginners class you can take."

"Well, not a class, but a teacher." Scott suggested.

"Derek? Are you kidding me? You're asking mister tall, dark, and brooding for advice?" I spat. Stiles thumped the back of Scott's head.

"Did you forget the part where we got him tossed in jail?" He reminded.

"That too." I added.

"Yeah, I know guys! But, chasing her—dragging her to the back of the bus felt so real." Scott didn't grasp the idea of a vivid nightmare though he'd been dealing with mine for a while now.

"How real?" Stiles wondered.

"Like it actually happened." Scott sighed as we walked through the back doors to head to the lacrosse field. My shoes scuffed against the pavement as I froze in my place. I became wide-eyed seeing the gruesome scene in front of me: a bloody school bus with the back door ripped off its hinges. There were claw marks engraved in the metal, not to mention there was blood splattered everywhere. Police and crime scene photographers were scouring the area. A curl of nausea rumbled through my stomach. I was going to be sick.

"I think you did." Stiles gasped. He looked almost as terrified as I was. My eyes darted to look at a distraught Scott, who turned on his heel and began rushing through the hallway we had just come down. Stiles went to chase after him while I, I had every intention too but I stood glued to my spot. The Scott I knew cringed over getting his blood drawn at the doctor. He couldn't have _purposely_ ripped someone apart like that…could he?

* * *

Not to long after Scott had disappeared, he texted me saying that Allison was, in fact, alive and well. I had skipped Biology and opted out to hide in the library for the entire period. Apparently, I had missed a fair amount of events besides Mr. Harris' boring spiel on photosynthesis. The cops had found a body inside the bus, and though the guy wasn't dead, he was in pretty bad shape. At least according to Scott. Stiles thought the guy looked fairly okay for being mauled by a werewolf. It was finally lunch, and even though I didn't have much of an appetite I still grabbed a bagel and a bag of chips. The three of us headed to our normal table inside the cafeteria and sat down in the uncomfortable plastic chairs.

"Dreams aren't memories." Stiles disagreed.

"It wasn't a dream! Something happened last night and I can't remember what." Scott cried.

"Don't you think I would have heard you get up?" I asked, taking a seat next to Stiles.

"I could have been quiet!" He argued.

"What makes you so sure Derek has all the answers?" Stiles brought up the topic we were on edge about.

"Because during the full moon he wasn't changed! He was in total control while I was running around in the middle of the night attacking some totally innocent guy."

"I'm starting to think getting some answers from Derek wouldn't be such a bad idea." I thought. Stiles glared at me as if I was betraying him.

"I can't go out with Allison. I have to cancel." Scott sighed.

"No! You're not cancelling. You can't just cancel your entire life."

"He can if he's going to have the girl as a midnight snack." I shrugged. Scott's eyes stared at me in shock. "Kidding. We'll figure it out." I defended.

"Figure what out?" Lydia Martin plopped her plastic tray filled with food onto our table and sat down beside Scott.

"Homework." I casually answered.

"Uh, uh, yeah." Stiles gawkily smiled. Lydia raised a perfectly arched brow and she looked from Stiles over to me.

"Ignore him." I suggested. She pursed her lips and nodded.

"Why is she sitting with us?" Stiles whispered. I didn't answer as I watched Danny, Greenberg, Allison, and Jackson take seats at the table. As predicted, Allison took a seat beside my brother while Danny took a seat on the other side of Stiles.

"Get up." Jackson spat at Greenberg, the most hated player on the lacrosse team. He was a suck up to coach and obnoxious to everyone else.

"Why don't you ask Danny to get up?" Greenberg whined.

"Because I don't stare at his girlfriends coin slot." Danny smirked, taking a bite of his apple. Greenberg rolled his eyes, picked up his tray, and walked away to sit with the other lacrosse junkies. "So I heard they're saying it's some type of animal attack? Maybe a cougar?" Danny thought.

"I heard it was a mountain lion." Jackson stated.

"A cougar is a mountain lion." Lydia groaned at Jackson's own stupidity before correcting herself at the slip-up, "isn't it?"

"Who cares? The guys probably some homeless tweeker who was gonna die anyway."

"Do you actually have a heart in there or is it just for show?" I asked Jackson, who was intensely staring me down.

"Actually I just found out who it is. Check it out." Stiles realized, tapping his phone to play a video. Curiously, I leaned over and stared at the screen. The video showed news footage of police looking over the bus' crime scene. "…victim, Garrison Meyers did survive the attack. Meyers was taken to the local hospital where he remains in critical condition." The video automatically stopped.

"Garrison Meyers?" I knew that name. Actually, I knew him. Scott did too.

"I-I-I know this guy!" Scott stuttered.

"You do?" Allison asked in shock.

"He used to drive the bus we were on back when we lived with our dad." I realized. We hadn't seen the guy since we were ten, so why would Scott attack him? Stiles looked back and forth between Scott and me. The glare got uncomfortably awkward so I leaned over and stole a fry from Danny's tray.

"Can we talk about something slightly more fun? Please?" Lydia begged.

"Yeah, this is making me lose my appetite." I pushed my tray away.

"Like…where we're going tomorrow night?" Lydia ignored me and her head lurched towards Allison. Allison stopped mid-chew as the red head stared at her and said, "you said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?"

"We were thinking of what we were gonna do…" Oh this was about to get rich.

"Well, I'm not sitting home again watching lacrosse videos," that got a laugh out of me, "so if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun." Allison looked like she was about to choke on her water.

"Hanging out? Like the four of us?" Scott slowly tried to grasp the concept. "Do you want to hang out with like us and…them?"

"Yeah, I guess. Sounds fun." Allison lied.

"You know what else sounds fun? Stabbing myself in the face with this fork." Jackson sarcastically commented.

"Aw, but Jackson, your looks are all you have. It would be a shame to loose them." The popular blonde jock glared at me with fire in his blue orbs. Satisfyingly, I unscrewed my water and took a swig.

"Ooh! How about bowling? You love to bowl!" Lydia cried. I swallowed my water, letting it go down the wrong pipe as I realized how this was like watching a car crash.

"You okay?" Allison asked while the others stayed in their conversation.

"Yeah, I'm good." Scott however wouldn't be.

"Yeah, with actual competition." Jackson told Lydia.

"How do you know we're not actual competition?" Allison played.

"Oh, god." I muttered under my breath. This was about to go horribly wrong.

"You can bowl, right?" She asked my brother.

"Sort of." Scott stuttered.

"Is it sort of or yes?" Jackson leaned forward, giving Scott a threatening glare.

"Yes. I'm a great bowler. " Scott solidly answered. With that, I swung my foot forward and stomped on Scott's foot. For the record, he was a terrible bowler.

* * *

Scott had left work early so I was forced to cover his shift. It wasn't a busy day at the animal clinic, so I didn't mind. Scott had gone to talk to Derek to discuss his fear of hurting Allison and apparently the older werewolf instructed him to go back to the crime scene and try to remember. While I wanted to join the escapade, I was stuck manning the front desk. I typed in the last bit of information into the computer and logged out, dreading the fact I had to go sweep the floors. Dr. Alan Deaton, my boss and Beacon Hills' best animal doctor, walked in and rolled up the sleeves of his button down.

"Hey," I grabbed the stack of papers belonging to the police departments dog sitting on the desk, "I just finished with Bandit's paper work and I'm gonna go finish cleaning the back room now."

"No need. Go home, kid." Deaton smiled.

"Are you sure? I've still got more than an hour left." My brows furrowed as I eyed the clock mounted on the wall.

"There's a curfew. Besides, I've got the rest covered." He nodded.

"Don't have to tell me twice." I hopped out of my chair and grabbed my wallet and phone from the desk drawer, stuffing it into my jacket pocket. As quick as I could, I left the animal clinic and texted Stiles to pick me up when the two were done playing Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. I sat on the sidewalk for fifteen minutes before the beat up blue jeep came into sight.

"About time. I'm freezing my ass off out here." I complained. Scott got out of the car and let me in the back seat. "How'd it go?"

"I didn't hurt him. I tried helping him!" Scott widely smiled.

"If you didn't do that to him, who did?"

"Derek. I was trying to protect Meyers from Derek."

"So Derek helped you remember that he attacked the driver? Not exactly his smartest plan. Actually: not _your_ smartest idea. You really think he'd do that, Scott?"

"Yes! I'm telling you, it was him!"

"Did you see his face? Think about it, him telling you that is like robbing a bank with your name tattooed on your forehead. What's the chance of other werewolves being in Beacon Hills?"

"God, Hayley! Stop defending him!" Scott cried.

"Hey, I don't like the guy. Just because I'm smarter than you doesn't mean I'm defending him." I huffed, sitting back in my seat with my arms crossed over my chest. Scott was an idiot.

* * *

"Remind me why I'm here again?" I moaned, watching Allison rummage through her closet for what to wear on her double date. "I'm not even going to this thing!"

"You could have gone with Stiles." Allison innocently said, hanging a tribal print dress back up.

"I'd rather poke my eyes out." I gagged.

"No complaining then." Lydia smirked, flipping a red curl out of the way.

"What about this?" Allison asked, holding a velvet shirt up to her body.

"Maybe if you were eighty." I grimaced.

"Pass." Lydia looked over to me with a smile on her pink painted lips. "Now I remember why I liked you." Defeated, Allison went to go stand by her dresser while Lydia and I fumbled through the clothes. "Pass. Pass. Pass." Lydia kept muttering. I picked up a floral skater skirt and showed it to Lydia.

"Oh honey, you just lost all credibility in my book." She laughed. "Pass."

"Find it in your heart to forgive me." I rolled my eyes.

"Hmm." Lydia picked up a sparkly black shirt and she moved towards Allison's bed. "This!" Allison took it from Lydia and put it up to her body, glaring in the mirror. I moved out of the closet and over beside Lydia to see Chris Argent walking in.

"Dad, hello?" Allison stared at him, wondering why he didn't knock.

"Right, I'm sorry. I completely forgot to knock." He apologized while putting his jacket on. A grin met Lydia's lips as she stared at the attractive father.

"Hey Mr. Argent." She plopped down on the bed, putting a hand on her small hips. He nodded at Lydia and looked over to me. I waved kindly.

"Dad, do you need something?" Allison wondered.

"I wanted to tell you that you'll be staying in tonight."

"What? I'm going out with my friends tonight!" She exclaimed.

"Not when some animals out there attacking people." He disagreed. I'm sure you think it's an animal, Chris. Right.

"Dad, dad, I—"

"Hey, it's out of my hands. There's a curfew. No one is allowed out past nine thirty pm." Chris cut Allison off from continuing her argument. The brunette rolled her eyes. Allison disappointingly tossed the black sequin shirt onto the bed. "Hey, no more arguing." Chris shook his head and turned around to go out the door. Allison deeply sighed and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Lydia stood up and watched Chris' figure walk out the door.

"Smooth, Lydia." I muttered. She peeled her eyes off of the father and look to her aggravated friend.

"Someone's daddies little girl." Lydia commented.

"Sometimes, but not tonight." Allison grabbed a beanie lying on her dresser and put it over her head. She walked over to the window, pushing the frilly white curtains out of the way, and quietly slid the glass open. Allison climbed onto the roof. Lydia and I looked to each other with wide eyes and ran over, jutting our heads outside to see Allison walk to the end of the roof.

"What are you doing?" Lydia cried. Allison swiftly and calmly flipped off the roof and stuck a perfect landing.

"I give it a ten." I gave her a thumb up. I was impressed.

"Eight years of gymnastics." The girl whispered with a giggle. "You guys coming?"

"I'll take the stairs." Lydia thought.

"Same." I quickly answered. The two of us rushed down stairs to see Mr. Argent in the living room speaking quietly on the phone. "Later, Mr. Argent." I called, waving goodbye. He smiled and waved back. We made it outside to see Allison waiting for us beside Lydia's car.

"Have fun." I smirked. Lydia unlocked her car and let Allison slip in the back seat so her father didn't catch her.

"Don't you want me to drop you off?" She asked.

"I can walk, it's not too far. Besides, my house is the opposite way of the bowling alley."

"Alrighty, if you say so. See you later." Lydia hopped into her car and drove off.

* * *

Walking home alone never bothered me. Especially at night. Beacon Hills was a safe enough place where you didn't have to worry about watching your back. At least, you didn't before. I was used to walking at night. I did it before I lived in Beacon Hills and I did it long after I moved here. It was always a way to escape and get lost in my own thoughts. Just like I was now. The Garrison Meyers situation had been bothering me since I woke up this morning. Meyers was still in critical condition and Scott was taking it personally. I, on the other hand, was more focused on why Derek would hurt the old guy. I had a ton of questions for the guy, but I didn't have the balls to ask them. I didn't even have the balls to go within ten feet of the guy. After throwing him in jail, I'm surprised he hasn't ripped our heads off yet. It was another cold January night in Beacon Hills and I was thanking my lucky stars I had enough common sense to wear a jacket and somewhat sensible shoes. My house was farther than I let on to Lydia, but I didn't want her doing me any favors. After all, we were just becoming cordial to each other. It was bound to go haywire sometime soon. I stuffed my hands into my jacket pocket and rubbed them together for warmth. I was starting to regret this whole walking home thing. The night was quiet and the roads were empty besides a pair of headlights slowly rolling up from behind me. I didn't think twice about it until the car idled right beside me.

"What do you think you're doing?" The driver of the car called. I turned towards the car. The window of the sleek, black Camaro was rolled down allowing me to see Derek's face.

"Walking. What do you think you're doing?" I retorted, continuing on my hike. Derek's car continued creeping next to me.

"Trying to save your ass from having the same fate as the bus driver."

"Thanks for the concern, wolf boy."

"Stop being stubborn and get in the car." He ordered.

"But being stubborn is my best quality." I sarcastically whined.

"Unless you want to walk another three miles and get your throat ripped out keep walking." Derek finally put the car into park when I stopped in my tracks. I stared ahead at the long road ahead, realizing that I had a far journey ahead of me. I could hear Derek lean across the center consol and swing the door open.

I was going to hate myself for this later.

Without another word, I got into Derek's car and slammed the door shut. Derek stepped on the gas and the car took off.

"It's not safe out here at night." Way to state the obvious, Derek.

"Second night in a row out in the open and yet I'm still here." I shrugged. "Can't get rid of me that easily." Derek rolled his eyes and barked a sarcastic laugh.

"Never said I was trying to."

"Just like you weren't trying to get rid of the bus driver? Right. And while we're at it, by the way, I don't exactly understand why you helped my brother remember that you hurt the guy. Dumb ass move on your part, buddy."

"You think I hurt the driver?" In the corner of my eye I could see Derek look over to me. I didn't return the glare. "You and your brother really are stupid."

"Excuse me?" I snipped, my icy glare turning towards Derek who was staring down the road. "First of all, don't put Scott's stupidity on my level. Second of all, sorry I'm new to this whole werewolf thing. Didn't exactly think I lived inside a twilight book." A smirk lifted the sides of Derek's lips.

"You're scared." He realized.

"No." I defended. Derek could tell I was lying. "I'm just confused." I admitted in a softer tone of voice, staring off into the darkness of the forest surrounding the blurring road. "I feel like I deserve to have some sense of control in my life and, well, with this I have none. I don't know what to except, it's not like I can just Google a how-to. And I don't know why I'm telling you this because God knows you couldn't care less." I sighed. Derek's jaw clicked.

"I can tell you what you need to know." Derek offered.

"You'd do that?" I laughed in amazement.

"Do you want me to or not?" Derek barked.

"I'm just surprised you'd even offer, to be honest."

"Take it or leave it." He gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles turning white.

"I'll take it." I said without another thought. "Why would you help me? I got you thrown in jail for God sakes."

"You ask so many God damn questions." Derek groaned, pulling his car into the local seven-eleven. "Haven't your parents ever taught you to be grateful for something?" My heart swelled in pain. No Derek, they never have the chance to. Derek noticed the change in my demeanor but played it off as nothing as he cut the engine of the car. Without another word, he got out and went over to the pump. I swung the car door open as the neon 'open' sign of the station's store caught my attention.

"Want anything, green eyes?" I threw my thumb over and pointed towards the convenient store. Derek shook his head, eyeing a red SUV pulling into the gas station. "Suit yourself." I shrugged. The quiet sound of a bell rang, alerting the owner of my presence. The smell of cheap popcorn and mildew swarmed through my nostrils. Walking over to the wall of fridges', I reached in and grabbed a Coke. I sashayed over to the cashier, reached into my pocket, and tossed a dollar and change to the terribly bored man. Walking out, I halted right outside the door when there was a man talking to Derek.

"—very hard to keep clean." The man paused as he examined the hood of Derek's car. I couldn't put a finger on whom the voice belonged too, all I could see was a jacket clad back. There were two SUV's parked in front and behind Derek's car, which made my brows form a tight line. "I would definitely suggest a little more maintenance." The man turned to the side and I could finally identify him as Chris Argent. Argent grabbed a squeegee and began wiping it over Derek's windshield. "When you have something that's nice, you want to take care of it. Right? Personally, I'm very protective of the things I love. That's something I learned from my family. You don't have much of that these days, do you?" My hands turned into fists and I dug my nails into my palm. I had to hold myself back from going over there and punching Chris Argent in the face. Going over there and intervening would probably do more damage though. What he said fueled something inside of me. My stomach twisted and turned and I could feel all the blood rush to my jaw. I chomped down on the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood.

_Breathe, Hayley, breathe._

"There you go. You can actually look through your windshield now! See how it makes everything so much clearer?" There was a few seconds of uncomfortable silence before Chris turned away.

"You forgot to check the oil." Derek taunted. Really, Derek? Are you that much of an idiot?

"Check the mans oil." Chris calmly ordered. Another man came into view, swiftly taking a crowbar and smashing Derek's driver window in. I jumped back in fear as the window shattered to pieces.

"Looks good to me." Argent's groupie smirked before noticing my presence. His jaw clenched and he shook his head, giving me a grin that silently said that I didn't see anything.

"Drive safely." Chris gave his farewell before him and his groupies drove off in separate cars. The second the cars left the lot; I rushed over to Derek. I looked to Derek

"Does he do this every time you stop and get gas?" I asked, closely examining the broken window. Damn, the guy really hated Derek.

"Just get in the car." Derek ordered in a harsh voice. I did as he ordered. I slid into the passenger seat as Derek peeled off his jacket and placed it on top of the left over glass shards. He sped the car out of the station and we were back in strict, uncomfortable silence.

"He thinks you're the one who mauled the driver, doesn't he?" I asked to break the silence.

"Just like you do." Derek spat.

"I never said I thought that." Derek looked to me in amazement. "Scott does. I, on the other hand, don't think you're stupid enough to let my brother remember something like that."

"Really?"

"I thought there could be another one but, hey, what do I know. I'm new at this."

"It's called an Alpha." Derek said after a few beats of silence.

"So there is another one?" Inside, I was gloating that I was right and Scott was wrong.

"Yes. He's the leader, the strongest out of all of us. But, I don't know who it is."

"What's it going to take to find out?"

"I'm trying all I can." Derek stated, his voice dry. It became quiet again and I decided to listen to the sound of the tires on the road instead of speaking up. That didn't last long. Seeing that we were only a few blocks down from my house, I decided to bring up what had been bothering me the past ten minutes.

"I'm sorry." I started off. Derek looked at me in confusion. "What Chris said about your family." Derek stayed silent, so I continued on. "Nobody deserves that. Believe me, I know how rough it is. He made a dick move." I pursed my lips. We pulled up beside my driveway.

"Yeah, right." Derek choked on a laugh. "Don't pretend you know what it's like. Like your human, normal life is _so_ hard." Derek rolled his eyes. And just like the flip of a light switch, I was back to hating Derek Hale again. Any goodness that he got out of this ride disappeared. My cheeks burned red and I clicked my jaw in tension.

"You don't know me, Derek. And you sure as hell don't know what I've been through." I calmly stated, reaching for the handle and opening the door. "Have a good night." I slammed the door shut and stalked off.

* * *

**A/N: What do you think? BY THE WAY: I know in the first chapter I said that it was the start of the school year but i was confused by the teen wolf timeline…and I think jeff davis was too. Apparently episode 1 starts in January sooo…just pretend instead of saying summer break I meant winter break. Lol. Reviews please!**


	4. Magic Bullet

Sunday crept by slowly and it was filled with homework and silent mantras about how much I despised Derek Hale. The fact I allowed him to give me a ride home made me want to kick myself in the face. _Twice_. Apparently, Garrison Meyers had passed away on Saturday night. Mom said his wounds were the cause of his demise. Scott had also learned of the alpha from Derek. He apparently went to confront him on Meyer's death, but Derek let the cat out of the bag. I learned some newfound information from Scott early Saturday morning as well—the alpha was the one who bit Scott. Not Derek. But besides all the gruesome negativity that came with this past weekend, Scott managed to have a good time with his boo thing at bowling. Shocking.

"Wait, what?" I stopped in my tracks after hearing Allison utter the words that Scott was coming over to her house. Lydia, her, and I were walking to our lockers, thanking God that the end of the day was only five minutes away.

"Scott's coming over tonight?" Lydia gawked.

"We're just studying together." Allison innocently defended.

"Studying isn't just studying. It's like getting into a hot tub. Somebody's eventually got to cop a feel." Lydia shrugged.

"Oh God, I might throw up." I groaned, wishing I had a pair of ear plugs on me right about now.

"So what are you saying?" Allison wondered.

"I'm just saying; make sure he covers up." Lydia winked.

"Lydia, I can feel my lunch coming up." Defiately didn't want to hear that. I looked to Allison, who cocked her head in confusion.

"Hello snow white, I'm talking about a condom!" I was about to hurl.

"Are you kidding? After one date?" Allison laughed the awkward situation off.

"Don't be a total prude. Give him a little taste." It was more like an order than a suggestion.

"Scott's not like that." I rolled my eyes and paused, "At least I hope he isn't." Scratch that, I didn't want to know.

"I mean…how much is a little taste?" Allison timidly asked.

"Okay, that's my cue to leave. Goodbye." I turned on my heel and walked down the stairs, leaving the two girls to giggle at how they just taunted me. The shrill school bell rang and out came a swarm of students. I pushed my way through the buzzing hallway and rushed to Stiles' last class to find him just walking out.

"Hey! Hey!" I called. Stiles turned around and waved his fingers towards me.

"What's up?" He wondered. We began walking to the parking lot.

"Can you drop me off? Scott's got a date with Allison."

"First of all, yeah he does!" Stiles cheered. "But yeah, I've got you." The two of us walked down the back steps of the school, Stiles talking the entire time about how frustrating economics class was today.

"At least I don't have to deal with Finstock for class _and_ lacrosse." I mocked, hopping in Stiles Jeep.

"Yeah, yeah. Very funny." Stiles threw the Jeep into reverse and started heading to the school exit before a figure dressed in all black came out right in front of the car.

"Holy God!" Stiles slammed his foot on the break, causing the wheels to squeal against the asphalt. My back slammed into the back of the beat up leather seats as I identified the figure as Derek. He didn't look himself though—his skin was milky white and he had purple bags under his eyes. He looked sick.

"What the hell is he doing here?" I thought out loud.

"You've got to be kidding me this guy's everywhere." Stiles complained, throwing his arms up in exasperation. Derek's eyes rolled back and he plummeted to the pavement.

"Oh God, this can't be good." I struggled to undo my seatbelt and bolted out of the car and kneeled to the ground.

"What are you doing?" I shrieked. Cars idling behind the jeep began honking impatiently. I helped Derek sit up and lean his weight on one arm.

"What are you doing here?" Scott ran up to us and kneeled to the ground like I did.

"I was shot." Derek wheezed.

"You were shot?" I repeated. Stiles fumbled out of the car and stood beside us.

"He's not looking so good, dude." Thank you captain obvious.

"Why aren't you healing?" Scott asked.

"I can't. It, it was a different kind of bullet."

"A silver bullet?" Stiles automatically assumed.

"No you idiot." Even when Derek was deathly sick he couldn't stand Stiles.

"Wait, wait, wait! That's what she meant when she said you had forty-eight hours." Scott realized.

"What?" Derek gasped.

"Who said that?" I asked.

"Who—who said forty-eight hours?" Derek panted.

"The woman who shot you." Scott simply answered. Derek squeezed his eyes shut and opened them to reveal his electric blue orbs. Derek wasn't shifting, was he? Scott looked around to make sure no by-passers saw the supernatural occurrence.

"What are you doing? Stop that!" Scott cried. Derek's eyes continued to revert back and forth between their normal and beta color.

"I'm trying to tell you I can't." Derek growled at the teen wolf

"Derek, get up!" Scott demanded. Derek bared his teeth at Scott, clenching his jaw in pain. More and more students were getting ansy, honking and yelling at Stiles to 'move the damn car'.

"Okay as entertaining as this is, we need to do this somewhere else." I jumped up from my spot on the ground and helped Scott lift Derek up. Scott hauled him over to the Jeep and strapped him in the passenger seat where I was previously sitting.

"I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used." Derek's voice was raspy.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Scott panicked.

"Because she's an Argent. The woman, she's an Argent. She's with them." He stated.

"Look tonight." I told my brother.

"Why should I help you?" Scott spewed, glaring daggers at Derek. There was no hiding he hated the guy.

"Because you all need me." It sounded more like a promise than a threat. For once, I thought Derek was right. I looked to Scott, who looked pissed, and saw Allison walking towards us. She exited her silver Toyota and began walking over to the Jeep, utterly confused.

"Allison, two o'clock." I warned. Scott's eyes bugged out as he whipped his head around to see his girlfriend inching closer.

"Get him out of here." Scott ordered. I rushed to the other side of the Jeep and climbed into the back. Stiles hopped in and threw the car into drive, telling Scott how much he hated him for making him take Derek. I didn't know where we were going, but Stiles' had a determine look on his face as if we had some sort of destination. And wherever we were going, Stiles' was rushing. He couldn't stand to be next to Derek for more than three seconds. My eyes eventually wandered over to Derek. Beads of sweat were forming at his hairline and dripping down his pale skin. The sick wolf began took his leather jacket off and threw it onto the floor of the Jeep. Derek's head fell to his chest and he continued to cradle his injured arm.

"Oh come on, can you try not to bleed out on my seats?" Stiles groaned, thinking about kicking Derek out of the car and driving off without a second thought.

"Because one more mark on the leather would make a serious difference." I sarcastically commented. Derek stayed silent.

"Whatever. We're almost there." Stiles mumbled.

"Almost where?" Derek perked up.

"Your house?" Stiles moaned and rolled his eyes in frustration, basically wondering how Derek couldn't know the most obvious of questions.

"What? No, you can't take me there." Derek became alert, and was that fear I saw in his eyes?

"I can't take you to your own house." Stiles repeated, cackling at the statement.

"Not when I can't protect myself!" Derek stated. Stiles looked over to Derek in disgust. And knowing Stiles, I knew exactly what was going through his head. He didn't put up with people he didn't like.

"Stiles, as much as we both don't want to do this, we threw the guy in jail the least we can do is save his ass for a few hours." I put a calming hand on his shoulder. Stiles puckered his lips in anger and slammed his foot on the break, skidding the car onto the side of the road. "Are you insane?" I cried, slamming into the back of my seat. Stiles took the key out of the ignition and threw it into his lap.

"What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet? Hmm? Are you dying?" He bluntly asked Derek, who seemed to become weaker.

"Not yet. I have a last resort."

"Not yet?" Wait, Derek was actually dying?

"What do you mean? What last resort?" Derek pulled up the sleeve of his henely to reveal a bloody gunshot wound on his forearm. I flinched and averted my eyes away. I wasn't the best when it came to being around blood.

"Oh my God, what is that? Ugh, is it contagious? You know you should just get out." Stiles as well averted his eyes in disgust. I tried to control the bile rising in my throat before looking back at the wound. It was bad; there was no hiding how critical Derek's state was. No wonder he looked so sick. Knowing how, somewhat, Derek felt, I suddenly had the overpowering need to help him.

"Stiles, we need to get him to a doctor pronto."

"No. Just, start the car. Now." Derek ordered.

"I don't think you should be barking out orders with the way you look, okay? In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could drag your little werewolf ass out in the middle of the road and leave you for dead." Stiles bitched.

"Start the car or I'm going to rip your throat out. With my teeth." Derek threatened, getting a sly smirk out of me. There was a stare off between Stiles and Derek for a few seconds before Stiles unwillingly put the key into the ignition and started up the car.

"We need to stop the bleeding." I stated, examining his arm.

"How about getting the bullet out and then we can drop him off at the hospital?" Stiles suggested.

"Taking the bullet out might cause it to bleed more…besides, do you want to reach in there?" I asked with raised brows.

"Ugh, God." Stiles muttered, mocking a heave. As Stiles continued driving, I grabbed Derek's arm and began putting pressure on the sight. The second I put the slightest bit of touch on his arm, he growled at me, baring fangs.

"Will you relax? Unlike this one, I'm trying to help you." I spat. Derek's eyes glanced from my hand putting pressure on his wound and back up to my face before clenching his jaw and turning away. It was obvious he wasn't one to accept help or sympathy. We had that in common. Watching my hands work nimbly on Derek as if I was performing surgery, my eyes zeroed in on the blood staining my hands. A breath was caught in my throat as I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to rid myself of the memory of my small hands stained blood red. Taking me out of my memory, Stiles phone began ringing. He stopped the car before answering the car.

"What am I supposed to do with him?" Stiles cried. I could hear Scott inaudibly talking to Stiles. "And by the way, he's starting to smell. Like death! " I slapped Stiles shoulder. "What about your boss?" Stiles listened to Scott for a few more seconds before handing the phone over to Derek, saying we wouldn't believe where Scott was telling us to take him. Derek hastily took the phone from Stiles' grasp.

"Did you find it?" There was a short pause. "Look, if you don't find it, I'm dead." Another pause. "Think about this: the alpha calls you out against your will. And he'll do it again. And the next time, you either kill with him or you get killed. So if you want to stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet." Derek furiously hung up the phone.

"Where are we going?" I wondered, taking pressure off the wound.

"The animal clinic." Stiles sighed before driving off. I bit my lip, trying to hold back the laughter about to burst out of my mouth. Stiles glared at me through the rearview mirror and I collected myself once more. "Scott said you'd know where the key is."

* * *

I left Stiles to hold up Derek's body, which was a pretty stupid idea since Stiles' could barely hold up his own weight. I ran into the back ally of the animal clinic and grabbed the spare key hidden under the dumpster. Once we opened one of the back entrances to the clinic, Derek fell exhaustedly on a several piles of dog food bags. When my phone began beeping, I whipped it out of my pocket and opened the message from Scott.

"Nordic Blue Munkshood?" Did I read that right? "Please tell me that means more to you than it does to me.

"It's a rare form of wolfs bane. He has to bring me the bullet." Derek wheezed.

"Why?" Stiles wondered, a worried expression crossing his face.

"Because I'm going to die without it." My face paled almost as much as Derek's. Stiles looked over to me, his eyes wide with fear. He didn't want to be responsible for the dying werewolf. I walked over towards Derek and kneeled to his level.

"How long do you think you have?" I quietly asked.

"Not long." My fingers made their way over to Derek's neck, feeling around for his pulse. His skin was hot and slick with sweat. His pulse was weak and seemed like it was dying.

"We need to hurry up." I alerted Stiles. Stiles and I lifted Derek up and we made our way into the back examination room, the biggest room in the building. Stiles went to flip the lights on while Derek stripped himself of his shirt. I would have taken the time to enjoy the view if it wasn't for the black veins protruding out of his bloody wound and all the way up his arm. The sick wolf stumbled to the examination table and I began grabbed paper towels and alcohol, setting it on the stainless steel.

"You know, that really doesn't look like anything some Echinacea and a good night sleep couldn't take care of." Stiles believed.

"If the infection reaches my heart it'll kill me." Derek mumbled. His voice was weaker. He began panting, turning around and searching through the cabinets. My eyes narrowed in on the tattoo inked on his upper back—a triple spiral. What was that about?

"Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?"

"What do you need? I'll get it." I offered. Unlike Stiles, I was taking the situation seriously. I wasn't letting someone else die on my watch.

"If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time, I have a last resort." Derek panted.

"Which is?" Stiles asked. Derek picked up a heavy metal machine out of one of the drawers and held it up for us to look at. It was a medical saw—the things that could cut through bones.

"You're going to cut off my arm." The two of us turned ghostly white. Derek slid the saw towards Stiles, who hesitantly picked it up.

"Oh my God." I gasped. Derek began tying elastic on his bicep.

"What if you bleed to death?" Stiles cried.

"It'll heal if it works." He muttered through a mouth full of elastic band.

"There's no way." My doe eyes grew bigger at the sight of the saw's blade. I couldn't imagine that cutting through Derek's body. It made me nauseous.

"Look, I don't know if I can do this." Stiles held back bile in his throat.

"Why not?" Derek snipped.

"I don't know, maybe because he's cutting off an arm? The cutting of bone and blood isn't exactly an everyday sight!" I cried.

"What, you faint at the sight of blood?" Derek narrowed his eyes in anger towards Stiles.

"No, but I might at the sight of a chopped off arm!" Stiles retorted. Derek rolled his eyes.

"Alright, fine. You cut off my arm or I'm going to cut off your head." Derek threatened.

"You know, I'm so not buying your threats—" Stiles was interrupted by Derek grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him forward.

"Hey! We're the ones keeping you alive right now! Let him go." I yelled. Before Derek could say another word, he began throwing up a black substance.

"Holy God, what the hell is that?" Stiles cried.

"Oh my God, Stiles we need to do this _like_ right now."

"My body is trying to heal itself." Derek said through heaves.

"I can't do this." Stiles threw me the saw.

"And I can?" I yelled.

"Just do it!" Derek screamed at me. My face turned stone cold and my lips formed a line. I held back tears behind my eyes, as I couldn't think of being so homicidal in chopping someone's arm off. Even if that arm belonged to Derek. I brought the blade up to Derek's arm and let my index finger hover over the on switch. There were a lot of things I wanted to do right now—crying and throwing up being two of them—but it didn't include cutting Derek's arm off. I couldn't do that. But it looked like I didn't have a choice.

"Stiles?" Scott called. My eyes shot open from being clamped shut.

"Scott?" I called back. I looked over to the door to see my brother.

"Hayley, what the hell are you doing?" He cried. I dropped the saw in relief before taking a breath before stepping back from the table.

"Did you get it?" Derek asked. Scott reached into his pocket and handed Derek a gold bullet.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Stiles wondered.

"I'm gonna…I'm gonna…" Derek collapsed, unconscious. The bullet rolled into the drain and Scott cried out for it. I rushed to kneel beside Derek and checked for his pulse.

"There's no pulse." I managed to say as I became stiff with fear. Stiles came down to my level, trying to coax Derek out of his unconscious state.

"Derek. Derek! Scott, what he hell are we gonna do?" Stiles yelled.

"I don't know!" Scott was on the floor trying to get the bullet out of the drain.

"I think he's dying! I think he's dead!" Hayley, take control of yourself. With Stiles trying to revive Derek, all hope would be lost.

"Stiles, move." I straddled Derek and put my ear to his bare chest. Nothing, it was silent. I began pushing on his chest, pumping my hands and trying to get the wolf to breathe again. Finally, after about thirty seconds, Scott got the bullet and Derek's chest slowly began to rise. I checked for a pulse to find that there was one, but it was weak. I flattened my hand out and arched my arm back, silently praying Derek wouldn't hunt me down for this later. My palm stung as it came in contact with Derek's cheek, but to my relief his eyes fluttered open. Derek looked at me in confusion before Scott, Stiles, and I all tried to help Derek up. Scott, carefully, handed Derek the bullet before he poured out the cartridge's powder and lit it on fire, allowing it to ignite like a sparkler. Derek scooped up the hot powder into his good hand and inserted it into the wound with a finger. He fell to the floor, screaming and writhing in pain. His back arched as tremors of burning shot down his arm. Scott, Stiles, and I watched in horror. Thank God, the screaming eventually died down and Derek was left panting while we watching in terror—besides Stiles who commented how awesome it was. The bullet wound had healed as if it had never been there in the first place.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, except for the agonizing pain." Derek glared Scott down.

"Guess the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health." Stiles commented.

"Careful, he can probably kill you again." I thought. Stiles took a few steps backwards.

"Okay, we saved your life! Now you're going to leave us alone! You got that? And if I don't, I-I'm going to go back to Allison's dad and I'm going to tell him everything." Scott nervously threatened.

"You're going to trust them? You think they can help you?" Derek mocked.

"Why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are!" Scott cried.

"Quit while you're behind, Scott." I muttered, patting him on the shoulder. "He's right, they are a lot freakin' nicer than you are. You're welcome for saving your life, by the way." I huffed. Derek eyed Scott and I before nodding his head.

"Oh, I can show you how nice they really are." He said.

"What do you mean?" Scott wondered, suspicion growing.

"You think the Argents are so innocent? Let me show you how innocent they can really be." Derek growled.

"There's no way in hell we're going somewhere else with you. You've done enough damage on us for today." I spat. Derek stared at me for a second, a sarcastic smirk growing on his lips. He looked like he wanted to run me over.

"You're coming."

* * *

Derek parked his Camaro in the Beacon Crossing Homes parking lot. The BCH was a long-term care facility—a part of the hospital my mom worked in when she needed overtime. Derek stormed out of the car, leaving Scott and I trailing after him wondering why the hell we were here. What did this place have to do with the Argents? As we walked through the facility, no nurse or doctor questioned Derek's motives. They looked at him and continued on with their day like it was normal for him to be here. We wove ourselves down a few hallways before Derek stopped in front of a door and hesitantly turned the knob. I noticed the manila folder chart beside the door labeled 'Hale, Peter R.'. The three of us walked into the dark room and stood beside the man, presumably Peter Hale, sitting lifelessly in a wheelchair. His eyes were unresponsive and staring at the wall in front of his.

"Who is he?" Scott quietly asked. I noticed Derek's expression on his face—through the rock hard, cold exterior, I could see pain in his eyes as he looked at the relative.

"My uncle, Peter Hale." This had to be one of the reasons Derek was the way he was. Things like that changed a person.

"Is he like you? A werewolf?"

"He was. But now he's barely even human." Every muscle in my body constricted. "Six years ago my sister and I were at school, our house caught fire. Eleven people were trapped inside. He was the only survivor." Derek solemnly explained.

"So, what makes you so sure that they set the fire?" I was glad Scott was doing all the talking. I had a lump stuck in my throat, finally understanding Derek's attitude towards the world. In a way, the two of us were similar. He just didn't have enough time to move on—though you never really could fully move on from some things so traumatic. Derek spat a laugh.

"Because they were the only ones that knew about us."

"Then they had a reason." I looked over to Scott, silently questioning why he was defending his girlfriends' murderous family.

"No one has a right to do something like that, Scott." I spat, whipping my head towards him. He could see the fire in my eyes. Derek looked to Scott the same way I had.

"Like what? You tell me what justifies this." Derek spun the wheelchair around to reveal the other side of Peter's face—skin charred and muscles slashed. "They say they'll only kill an adult, and only with absolute proof, but there were people in my family who were purely ordinary in that fire. This is what they do and it's what Allison will do." Derek exclaimed.

"What are you doing? How did you get in here?" A nasal red headed nurse appeared in the doorway.

"We were just leaving." Derek stated, grabbing Scott and I and walking out. I shook myself out of Derek's grasps and he led us out of the hospital. After exiting the sliding doors, I began walking head of the two werewolves. My feet had motive—to be anywhere away from Scott. Scott barely noticed how I was several feet away and walking on my own, but Derek sure did.

"She couldn't do that." Scott sighed, wondering if his girlfriend would actually do the same thing to his family.

"Stop defending her, Scott!" I turned on my heel and threw my hands up in exasperation. "You don't know her and you sure as hell don't know her family. Don't defend someone who could do something like that!" I cried. Scott bit his lip and looked at me like he was a child getting reprimanded. I rolled my eyes and turned around beginning to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Scott worryingly called.

"Home." I continued walking, not bothering to turn around.

"Derek's cars that way!" Scott began jogging after me.

"I know." I loudly stated. I could hear Scott stop in his tracks; he knew he needed to give me space. He was the wrong one here anyways. I continued on my trek through the parking lot, feeling Derek and Scott's eyes burning into my back the whole time.

* * *

**A/N: Thoughts? Ideas? Theories? Why do you guys think Hayley was so protective over Scott making those comments on Peter? What do you think was going through Derek's mind at the end of the chapter?**


	5. The Tell

"Where the hell have you been? Do you realize I've texted you ninety times?" Stiles rushed up to me as I walked towards my locker.

"No. I shut my phone off after text eighty-seven." I retorted with a smirk.

"Have you not talked to Scott?" He wondered. I didn't bother telling Stiles I had my mom drop me off instead of walking with Scott. We hadn't been on the best of terms to say the least. I still wasn't too happy with him.

"We've been keeping distances." I stated, finally reaching my locker and imputing my combination. _46-8-39._

"You didn't hear anything about what happened last night?"

"No…what happened?" I asked.

"Jackson and Lydia got attacked at Videos2C."

"What? Are they okay?" I exclaimed.

"Jackson's here but Lydia's at home. She's pretty freaked." Stiles sighed. "You haven't heard from her?"

"No, obviously not! Who attacked them?" I asked stupidly. Stiles looked at me, waiting for me to reword my question. "Or should I ask what attacked them?"

"Scott said it was the alpha. I'm going to Lydia's later to ask her what she remembers if you want to come."

"Yeah, sure." I shrugged. The school bell rang.

"Harris' will kill me if I'm late, I'll see ya' in class." Stiles ran off into the crowd of disappearing students. I flipped through my chemistry folder looking for the homework due in mere minutes. I could have sworn I put it in here; I didn't leave it on my bed right? If I did, I was _so_ screwed. Parent teacher conferences were tonight and I was already bombing Harris' class. My mom was already dreading talking to him for those assigned fifteen tedious minutes. To say the least, Adrian Harris was the definition of the devil.

"Hey." I looked up to see Allison walking over to me with a bright smile on her face. I reached on the top shelf of my locker and grabbed a pink envelope.

"Hey, birthday girl." I smiled, handing her the card. Her smile fell.

"Who told you?" She pouted.

"Lydia." Allison sighed. Of course the red head would have blurted that out to the world.

"Aren't you supposed to be happy? This is like everyone's favorite day of the year." I chuckled.

"I actually hate my birthday. It's probably my least favorite day of the year." Allison bit her lip and tucked a brown curl behind her ear. "I don't know, I always have. It's because I'm seventeen. It's embarrassing. But, when Scott told me you're seventeen too I felt a little better." She smiled, her eyes lighting up. My smirk dropped. I turned to look at Allison.

"Wait, Scott told you what?" He didn't, didn't he?

"He told me you were seventeen too…was I not supposed to say that?" She nervously bit her lip. That idiot. I was going to kill him if the alpha didn't get to him first.

"No," I sighed, "not a lot of people know that."

"Crap, I'm sorry. It's just, I got held back because of the amount of times I've moved. Everyone thinks I'm stupid, it's just nice to know I'm not the only one. Oh my God, I mean, I'm not saying I think you're stupid if you did get held back—"

"Hey, I didn't get held back because I'm stupid." I laughed. "When I have the time and I'm not late for Harris' class, I'll tell you why." Well, not completely.

"Scott's taking me out. We're skipping school. Don't tell anyone, please." She winked and giggled like a five year old.

"Wow, such a rebel." I sang. She walked off, giggling as she made a right down the next hallway. My smile faded after she disappeared, cursing my brother out in my head. How could he?

* * *

I was thankful at how quick Harris' class flew by. I'd been steaming at the thought of Scott the entire time, not paying attention to any sarcastic comment the teacher made towards Stiles. Two periods later, nothing changed. I was debating sneaking out through the lacrosse field but that would mean I'd have to walk several miles. Not happening. For the fifth time this period, I dialed Lydia's number only to be sent right to voicemail. I was concerned about what she thought she saw. The girl would answer my phone, so instead of worrying I took the next hallway towards the library. As I continued to walking on I slid my phone back into my pocket and looked up to see Derek walking towards me.

"If you're looking for Scott, trying again tomorrow. He's channeling his inner rebel-hooky player today." Derek looked at me and rolled his eyes.

"I'm not looking for Scott."

"What, late for your next class?" I smirked. Derek stopped when he reached me.

"I was trying to see what Jackson saw at the video store last night if you're so concerned."

"I've been trying to do the same with Lydia, but she's not answering. If I hear anything I'll tell you." I offered. Derek cordially nodded.

"Thanks." He continued walking. Before Derek got to far I decided to hate myself for this idea later. I did want to go home after all.

"Hey, Derek. Wait a second." Derek stopped in his tracks and turned around to face me. I rushed over to him. "I know you don't owe me any favors, but could you drive me home? I'd rather die than stay here another four hours." I sighed. I was _sooo_ going to regret asking this. Derek stood there for a few moments before opening his mouth.

"Well you did almost cut my arm off…" Derek eyed me sarcastically. "But I guess I owe you for helping keep me alive. Let's go." He nodded towards the side doors of the school.

"Thank you." I timidly smiled and followed him to his car.

* * *

The car ride was uncomfortably silent. I wasn't in the mood for small talk, especially since last time Derek drove me home it ended badly. I preoccupied myself with looking out the window but I was growing antsy.

"I'm guessing you don't like Allison." Derek spoke up over the low buzz of the radio. I looked over to him and shook my head to disagree.

"No, I do."

"Really? Thought you'd be defending her family instead of mine."

"Well, I didn't."

"Why? You seem so defensive." Derek questioned.

"I don't know."

"Just trying to figure it out." Derek shrugged.

"Stop trying to be caring, it doesn't suit you." I smirked. Derek rolled his eyes. I stopped talking to look out the window once more but the silence was gnawing away at me. "How's the arm feeling, by the way?"

"Stop trying to be caring, it doesn't suit you." Derek mocked.

"Oh, we're playing that game." I nodded with realization. "What? Am I not allowed to disagree with my brother on one tiny thing? Scott's not the brightest wolf on the block if you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I have. I'm just surprised. You don't like me. You'd side with your brother over me any day."

"I never said I didn't like you. I just didn't want you hurting my brother."

"I never said I would." Derek shrugged and looked over to me in concern. He noticed the crease in my forehead I got all the time when I was stressed. "So, why leave school early? Crappy day?"

"Uh, uh." I wagged my finger. "No personal questions." Derek looked towards me with raise brows. He knew I wanted to get something off my chest but he wasn't exactly the one I wanted to talk to about it. His stare caused me to break. "Crappy week."

"It's only Monday" Derek realized.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Your so-called werewolf brother's got a big mouth." I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Really?" Derek sarcastically wondered.

"And once again a simple car ride with you goes south." I sighed.

"What did he do?"

"Besides blabbing to Allison that I'm seventeen to make her feel better on her birthday? Nothing. But why am I telling you this. I'll just bitch to Lydia whenever she's off her Xanax overload." I rolled my eyes. Yeah right, Lydia didn't even know I'm seventeen.

"You're seventeen?"

"Yes, Derek. I'm seventeen. What a shocker." Thankfully, Derek pulled onto my street and I grew anxious to exit the Camaro.

"I don't see what the big deal is." He commented, looking at me like I was crazy. Finally, someone who didn't make a big deal of my age. But then again, Derek didn't care about much.

"Well when everyone thinks you got held back for being stupid it's a bit much." I was thanking my lucky stars when Derek pulled parallel to my driveway.

"So why did you get held back?" What was with all the personal questions, Derek? Jeez.

"That's for me to know and you to not find out." I grabbed my backpack by the strap and opened the passenger door. I jumped out of the car and swung my bag over my shoulder. "Thanks for the ride, I owe you." I shut the door behind me, walking up my driveway and into my house to hear my mom talking on the phone. I followed her voice into the kitchen to see her leaning against the counter with her cell phone tucked in between her ear and shoulder.

"No, no. I just have my kids' conferences tonight. I can come in after. Alright? See you then, Jeff." She hung up and looked at me before her eyes darting over to the clock, wondering why I was home this early from school. "Okay, I know today wasn't a half day." She put her phone down on the counter before crossing her arms over her chest.

"You can blame your son for that one." I huffed, tossing my bag onto the ground and rummaging through the fridge for a snack.

"What's wrong?" Mom lost the faux tough exterior.

"Scott told Allison I was seventeen." I groaned, grabbing a rice pudding from the top shelf of the fridge.

"That's why you left school?" She asked in her 'are-you-freaking-kidding-me' tone.

"Mom, that's none of her business." I argued.

"I thought she was your friend?"

"She is but my age isn't any of her concern. Apparently she's seventeen too and she asked why I got held back. This is ridiculous Scott shouldn't have said anything!"

"Honey, relax. Go rest and we'll go to the conference later, alright? Cool off."

"Yeah." I mumbled, taking my pudding and myself up the stairs and into my room.

* * *

"Scott, this is the last time I'm calling you. If you don't answer your phone I'm done covering for you. Get your ass to school. Now." I hung up the phone for the umpteenth time tonight. I didn't even understand why I was covering for Scott in the first place, especially with what he did earlier.

School was bad enough during the day. Being stuck here after hours was even worse. I walked the hallways twice already while my mom had gone from teacher to teacher, and finally she was making her way into the devil's classroom. I sat myself on the linoleum floors outside Harris' classroom, attempting to hear any snide comment the chemistry teacher was making. With the door closed, it was almost impossible.

_Start digging my grave. My mom's going to kill me when she walks out or Harris'. _

I sent the text to Stiles who immediately replied asking _'why?'_.

_Grades are lower than Jackson's GPA. _

I could already imagine Stiles laughing when he replied, _Ouch. Don't insult yourself so much. BTW, any word from Scott? _

_None, he's officially gone off the radar. _

I slid my phone back into my pocket when the chemistry door opened up. My mom came storming out which lead the '_holy hell, I'm dead'_ mantra in my head. Mom stopped right outside the door and looked down to me in shock.

"Scott skipped school?" She cried. Oh, thank God. He was in deeper trouble than I was—at least for now.

"For Allison's birthday." I shrugged.

"Hayley! Why didn't you tell me?" Wait, how was I going to get in trouble for this?

"Hey! It's the other McCall kid who's supposed to be in trouble!" My mom groaned and ran a hand through her curly locks.

"This doesn't get you off for the bad grades. Stay here." She pointed to the floor before rushing out the front doors in search of her other child. I groaned, hitting my head against the concrete wall. Scott screwed me over twice today. It was finally hitting nine o'clock and conferences were dying down. Most of the parents were leaving while the ones with three kids were unfortunate enough to be here longer. For once, I listened to my mom and stayed sitting on the floor picking at the fabric of my jeans. I finally came out of my deep thoughts to hear screams emanated from the parking lot. I shrugged it off as parents yelling at their kids, but they continued. The screams were filled with terror. Then there were cries for help. My brows furrowed and I scurried up from the floor, sprinting towards the front doors. I burst through the double doors just in time to see Stiles' dad fall to the ground after being hit by a backing up car. I gasped, my heart pounding against my chest. Then I heard it, the eerie growls coming from a feral animal. Was that the alpha? Would he have the balls to come here at a crowded school? I whipped out my phone and texted Derek, who's number I borrowed from Scott the other day.

_Alpha at the school._

I ran towards the Sherriff and kneeled down next to him.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." He assured.

Bam, and just like that a gunshot went off and the screams died down. I thought Sherriff had sent off the shot, but his gun was lying on the asphalt.

Chris Argent was the one wielding the gun. He had shot off the fatal blast. I looked up to see a crowd gathering around a dying—mountain lion? So, besides an Alpha, there had been a mountain lion lurking around Beacon Hills…unless that was just the Alpha's cover up.

* * *

**A/N: Short chapter because I didn't get a lot of reviews :/ And I know this chapter was a bit boring but the next few will be good! Hayley's outfits are on polyvore!**


	6. Heart Monitor

I tapped my pencil against my thigh as I sat Indian style in my bed dressed in an oversized grey sweater and black pajama shorts. I was finishing up a worksheet Harris' had given me for extra credit—it was the only thing that would bring my grade up. And to be honest, it was so hard I was contemplating not doing it. I had called Lydia for help, but she was still frazzled from the 'mountain lion' accident at the video store. So, that led me to do this on my own. Mom was assigned to the night shift, once again, and I was stuck at home alone while Scott had gone grocery shopping—at least that's what he tried to tell me he was doing. I still wasn't talking to him and I didn't plan on it any time soon. The front door clicked open and I heard Scott's feet thumping up the stairs almost immediately while he called my name out.

"Hayley!" He swung the door open looking terrified.

"Screw off, Scott." I grabbed a throw pillow beside me and chucked it at him. To say the least, I was quite content when he failed to catch it and it hit him square in the face.

"Hayley, listen to me!" He panted. I got up from my bed, shoved Scott out of my room and closed the door. Walking back to my bed, he opened it once again and rushed over to my windows, closing them and locking them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Get out!" I cried. Scott grabbed my wrist and began pulling me into the hallway and towards his room. "Get your dirty little dog paws off me." I struggled.

"I know you're still mad at me—still not exactly sure why—but I'm trying to protect you, you need to trust me." We finally entered Scott's dark room and he locked the door behind us.

"Trust you?" I laughed. "After you told Allison how old I really am? After you saved her instead of Stiles' dad? He could have gotten killed, Scott! What's next, are you going to tell her how we're not actually related!" I snipped. Scott frantically closed his window and shut the blinds, peaking out them a couple of more times before turning his lamp on. I gasped so loud I thought the neighbors had heard me. Sitting in Scott's armchair was none other than Derek Hale.

"You seriously need to stop doing that!" Scott yelled, trying to catch his breath.

"Your stalking has no boundaries, does it?" I put a hand over my heart, making sure it was still beating. Yeah, surprisingly, it was.

"What happened? Did he talk to you?" Derek calmly asked Scott.

"Did who talk to you?"

"Yeah, we had a nice conversation about the weather. No! We didn't talk!"

"Hey! I'm supposed to be the one ignoring you. Who did or didn't talk to you?" I asked.

"The alpha." Scott informed, causing my brows to rise.

"Did you get anything off of him? An impression?" Derek asked.

"What do you mean?" Scott wondered. Derek rolled his eyes, getting up from the chair.

"Remember your other senses are heightened. Communication is spoken. What kind of feeling did you get from him?"

"Anger." He stated.

"Well, that's no surprise." I commented.

"Focused on you?" Derek asked. Scott paused to think.

"No, not me. It was definitely anger. I can feel it. Especially when he drew the spiral."

"Wait, the what? What did you just say?" Something in Derek's face changed.

"He-he drew a spiral on the window of my car—on the condensation." Scott elaborated. I watched Derek's facial expression's churn. He was thinking…and it made me nervous. "What? You have this look like you know what it means."

"It's—it's nothing." Derek stuttered, moving past us.

"Wait, wait, wait a second! You can't do that! You can't ask me to trust you and then just keep things yourself."

"It doesn't mean anything." Derek shook his head.

"You buried your sister under a spiral. What does it mean?" Derek's jaw clenched as he tried not to think about his dead sister.

"You don't want to know." Derek stated with a sigh before walking out and closing the door. Scott looked over to me, seeing I was deep in thought.

"What?" I spat, noticing his stare. I walked out the door and jogged down the stairs to rush after Derek—who was surprisingly fast. I opened the front door to see him slowly walking down the driveway with his hands stuffed inside his leather jacket.

"Derek, wait." I called and closed the door behind me. I rushed over towards him, feeling the damp driveway slap against my bare feet. "You've got a triple spiral tattooed on your back. Please. Tell me what it means." A light breeze slapped my cheeks and hair.

"I'll tell you once you tell me how you and Scott aren't actually related." He spat before turning away and storming down the driveway. He heard the breath taken out of me. I was speechless. He heard my comment towards Scott, I hadn't thought of it till now.

"I know it's hard for you to believe but we're not that different, Derek." I quietly admitted with all the courage I had. Derek stopped in his tracks. "We're not." I turned on my heel and began walking back to the front door.

"Revenge. It means revenge." He called loud enough for me to hear. I didn't acknowledge him; instead I just walked through the front door and locked it behind me.

* * *

I managed to ignore Scott for half the school day until I got a message from Stiles that if I wanted to take all my anger out on my brother, to meet them both on the field.

"How's this work?" I asked seeing Scott, his hands duck taped behind his back, standing a few yards from Stiles, who was holding his lacrosse stick.

"We hit Scott with as many balls as possible."

"I'd ask why, but I don't care. Count me in!" I smiled and grabbed one of the several dozen lacrosse balls stuffed inside Stiles' gym duffle. I chucked the ball at Scott, hitting him square in the stomach.

"Ugh!" He doubled over. I satisfactorily smiled.

"Oh yeah, this feels good."

"Right?" Stiles agreed.

"Will you both stop being mad at me after this?" Scott yelled when Stiles hit him with another ball.

"Maybe." I shrugged.

"I think my aim is actually improving." Stiles commented after Scott groaned 'son of a bitch'. "Uh, uh, uh! Don't get angry!" Stiles warned, looking into his duffle bag.

"Is that a heart monitor?" I asked.

"Yeah, I borrowed one from coaches office." He smirked.

"Borrowed." I laughed, chucking another ball at Scott. Stiles and I were like one of those machines baseball players used to practice—we were ruthless. We kept coming at him even when he was crying out in pain. Finally, Scott dropped to the ground moaning in pain. The heart monitor's beeping increased. I knelt down and grabbed the phone, seeing it was all the way up to 165 beats per minute.

"Hey, he's getting dangerously high." I warned. Scott broke the duck tape that bound his wrists and pounded the ground, hyperventilating. A few seconds later, the beats began slowing down as did Scott's breaths. Stiles rushed over before Scott and comforted him.

"The anger I got the stronger I felt." Scott whined, rolling onto his ride.

"So, if it's anger than Derek's right."

"I can't be around Allison." Scott sighed.

"Why, because she makes you happy?" I asked from afar.

"No, because she makes me weak." All three of us frowned, wondering how this would turn out.

* * *

I managed to get to Finstock's class late to find Allison in my seat—directly behind Scott.

"Welcome to class, Miss McCall. Would you like anything? Hot coffee? A snack?" Coach asked.

"Sorry, coach." I mumbled, taking a seat directly behind Stiles.

"Let's start with a quick summary of last nights reading. Greenberg, put your hand down. Everyone knows you did the reading. How about, uh, McCall."

"What?" Both Scott and I answered.

"Not you McCall! This McCall." Coach stood in front of Scott's desk. "The reading."

"Last nights reading?" Scott obliviously asked.

"How about the reading of the Gettysburg address." Coach sardonically thought.

"What?" Scott stupidly replied. I buried my face into my hands. This wasn't going to end well. Coach began spitting remarks at Scott left and right, causing his heartbeat to rise. I could see the monitor up on Stiles' phone, Scott's heart beat reaching a whopping 165. If coach continued this up, Scott would shift and rip the entire class' throat out. Just as I was about to open my mouth to say something to stop coach, Scott's heart monitor lowered down to 125 and continued lowering. I looked over Stiles' shoulder to see Allison holding Scott's hand in reassurance.

"She doesn't make him weak, she calms him down." I whispered into Stiles ear, who was eyeing the two hands clasped together.

* * *

I was going to murder Scott if it wasn't for the fact that he had already gotten the living crap beaten out of him today by a group of seniors. After school ended, I planned on going home and taking a nice long nap, maybe eve going out for a bite with Lydia. But no. I was forced to take Scott's shift at work till he got out of detention—which apparently Harris had given him after the senior boys beat him up. Harris' logic made no sense to me. Lydia, who was very vague about the animal attack, took me out for coffee and dropped me off at the clinic. It felt like years before my—Scott's—shift ended and I finally managed cleaning up the back offices.

"Hayley, could you go give Charlie his Dorzolamide and flea medication?" Deaton asked, holding a chart in his hands. I nodded before walking off into the back dog kennel and thanked God when I didn't get a raging migraine from the few dogs barking at me—the kennel was emptier than usual.

"It's just me guys," I comforted, grabbing a plastic bag labeled with the specific dogs name. I sat myself on the floor and opened Charlie's cage, letting the scruffy mutt scrawl into my lap. "Hey bud." I cooed, as he jumped all over me, his tail slapping my arms. "How you doing today? Good? That's my boy. Look it! Hayley has a treat for you!" Charlie's tail wagged faster as I grabbed the meat flavors medicine out of the Ziploc bag and popped it into his mouth. "Yeah, that tastes good doesn't it? That's my boy. Now one more med and we're all done for the night. Only one more day till you go home, bud!" I inserted the flea medication at the back of his neck. "I'm gonna miss you, you know. Don't tell the others, but you're my favorite. You don't try to eat my hair as much." I chuckled, petting Charlie's back as I finished up his medical routine. I spent a few more minutes sitting on the floor with Charlie before reluctantly putting him back inside his cage and walking out of the kennel. When I came back around the front, Scott walked in the door looking more exhausted than ever.

"Ah, just in time for closing time." I joked.

"Finishing up?" Scott sighed.

"Yeah, I just finished up with Charlie. It's no big deal." I shrugged. Scott opened his mouth to apologize but we heard Deaton screaming. The two of us ran into one of the examination rooms to see Deaton bound to a chair—with Derek holding it up in the air.

"Scott, get out of here!" Deaton cried after seeing my brother in the corner of his eye. Scott and I rushed over to our boss just in time for Derek to land a bunch to the guys jaw.

"Stop! Stop!" Scott cried. I held Derek's arm back from another blow towards Deaton.

"Look, when he's conscious he can keep himself from healing! When he's unconscious he can't!" Derek spat in my face.

"Are you out of your freakin' mind?" I cried.

"What are you talking about?" Scott yelled.

"You want to know what the spiral means, Scott? It's our sign for vendetta. For revenge. It means he won't stop killing until he's satisfied." Okay, Derek, you could stop yelling any time now.

"You think he's the alpha?" Scott gasped.

"We're about to find out." Derek stated, expanding his claws and going for the vets face.

"No! Stop!" I screamed, attempting to hold back his grasp. My strength compared to Derek's was unrivaled. Scott roared, fully changed into his werewolf form, and he threw Derek's arm back. Instinctively, I took several steps away towards Derek. Scott changed back to normal.

"Hit him again and you'll see me get angry." Scott threatened. Derek puckered his lips before moving away from Deaton. I grabbed a bottle of antiseptic and a cotton ball before cleaning up a deep cut on Deaton's cheek.

"Thanks." I muttered to Scott as he took a bloody cotton ball from me. "He can't be the alpha. I think we would have noticed if our boss was on a homicide mission."

"He's the alpha." Derek stated.

"He's not. He can't be." Scott sighed.

"Do you have a plan?" Derek asked.

"Just give me an hour."

"Then what?"

"Meet me at the school. In the parking lot." Scott meekly thought. Derek walked out into the waiting room with a loud groan, leaving Scott and I to ourselves.

"We need to figure out a plan." Scott sighed.

"Have Stiles' pick you up, I'm not leaving Deaton here alone with Derek."

"I'm not leaving you here alone with him either!" Scott cried.

"Scott, I'll be fine. He wont hurt me if he needs your help. I'm not leaving our boss alone with him. Go." I urged. Scott nodded before engulfing me in a hug and rushing out, dialing Stiles on his phone.

* * *

Derek had stuffed an unconscious Deaton into his back seats while I took residence in the passenger seat per usual. I kept my eye on him, shifting my vision to the rearview mirror every few minutes. My boss, the alpha? It couldn't be. _He_ couldn't be. There was no way in hell he was. But what made Derek so sure that Deaton—Beacon Hill's loving animal doctor—was the homicidal alpha werewolf?

"So it is you or Scott?" Derek spoke up.

"Is what?"

"Which one isn't related?" He asked. My muscles tensed and I bit the inside of my cheek to stay silent. "Hmmm?" Derek egged on.

"That's really none of your business, Derek." I looked back at Deaton again. Still unconscious.

"Why do you find it so hard to believe that he's the Alpha?" I didn't answer Derek. I decided to ignore him until we got into the parking lot besides Scott and Stiles.

"Where's my boss?" Scott immediately asked.

"He's in the back. He's okay." I nodded. Stiles took a step forward towards the Camaro to see an unconscious Deaton sprawled out in the back of the car with his mouth shut closed with duct tape.

"Well, he looks comfortable." Stiles spat. Scott mumbled something to Stiles as they began to walk off towards the school.

"Hey, hey! What are you doing?" Derek asked, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"You said I was linked with the alpha. I'm gonna see if you're right." Scott replied, giving me a look to guard Deaton with my life. I nodded in agreement and the two boys ventured to go break into the school. I shuffled over to Stiles' car and leaned against the cold metal, staring out into the blackness of the night. My arms were crossed over my chest as I tried to keep myself warm—cursing myself out for deciding to wear such a thin shirt underneath my jacket. I hadn't noticed Derek's green eyes burrowing into me as I sucked on my bottom lip intently. He could see the wheels in my mind turning, the crease in between my eyebrows growing prominent. He couldn't help but wonder what was on my mind, but it wasn't like he was going to speak up and ask. I'd just shoot him down with another comment again.

"You know, a few years after I came to Beacon Hills I remember seeing the headlines about the fire. And the one thing I remember was seeing your name. If I don't ask about what's happened in your personal life, please don't be so concerned about mine." I finally managed to stare at Derek through my lashes.

"I can't exactly figure you out. Call it curiosity." He admitted.

"Curiosity kills the cat." I retorted before pausing and quietly admitting, "so if that answers your question, it's me that's not related." Derek walked towards me a few moments later to lean beside me.

"It doesn't answer all of them, but thank you." He nodded harshly.

"I get it. I get you don't trust people, Derek. It's a hard thing to earn especially when you've been kicked down for it so many times. But trust me, I'm not the threat. You don't have to be worried about trusting me." I pushed myself off the car and leaned on Derek's instead. I was surprised he didn't give me some snide comment how I'd scratch up the paint.

"I'm not." He admitted. "That's why I told you about the vendetta first." So, Derek Hale really trusted me? That was hard to believe. He didn't seem to even trust himself. Maybe it was the comment I made towards him saying how we weren't that different. Maybe he finally realized that he didn't have to keep a tough guard up around anyone—that someone in this damn town finally understood how he felt. Even though he wasn't too sure how I knew this. I could see a change in Derek's demeanor before I looked away, not wanting him to think I was staring.

"Boston." I spoke up. "I'm originally from Boston." Derek's thick brows furrowed as he looked at me with curiosity.

"Why are you telling me this?" He wondered.

"Because I want you to know you're not alone in this." The side of my lips picked up into a light smile. It became silent between us as Derek tried not to speak. The air was soon pierced with something that sounded like a cat being choked to death blaring over the speakers.

"You've got to be kidding me." Derek said, deadpan. My lips curled up into a smile and I laughed.

"Was that his idea of a howl?"

"Unfortunately." Derek groaned. A few more moments passed by before a howl echoed through the school's speakers. With wide eyes I looked towards the school as the howling finally came to a halting stop. Derek and I walked forward to the side of the jeep to stare at the ominously dark school

"Now that was a howl." I commented. Derek looked at me, jaw clenched and head shaking. Oh, those boys were so dead. A couple minutes later before the boys came prancing out of the school doors, smiles plastered on their faces.

"I'm going to kill both of you! What the hell was that?" Derek yelled as they walked over to us. "What, are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?"

"Sorry, I didn't know it would be that loud." Scott shrugged.

"It was loud. And it was awesome." Stiles sang. Derek stared at my best friend in hatred.

"Shut up." He stated.

"Don't be such a sour wolf." Stiles sighed. I looked over to Scott, silently begging him to control our friend before Derek bit his throat out. Scott ignored my glare as he stared into the back of the Camaro.

"What did you do with him?" He cried. I followed his gaze and double-checked if my eyes were deceiving me—Deaton had disappeared.

"What?" Derek turned around and saw the missing vet. "I didn't do anything!" He protested.

"Scott, he was there less than a minute ago." I gawked at the empty back seat. How could we not have heard him wake up and leave? Then, all of the sudden, Derek was jerked forward and up into the air. Blood poured out of his mouth. Being that I stood between Scott and Derek, Scott grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. The culprit roared, taking our attention from Derek to the hairy red-eyed beast holding him up. The three of us screamed. Our legs began moving as fast as they could towards safety and our brains began realizing that it was the alpha that had just killed Derek.

* * *

**A/N: Hello! Sorry this took so long, school started and it's been pretty stressful. The outfit Hayley wears in this chapter is up on polyvore so go ahead and take a look! Also, to cheer me up, review and tell me your thoughts please!**


	7. Night School

I_t had been another laidback night in the McCall townhome. Dad had just gotten home from a long day of work and Mom was prepping to make our favorite dinner—chicken parm. My mouth salivated just at the thought of it. I had just gotten home from Lucy Parker's house a few blocks down. I'd been shaking the whole walk home. It was an abnormally long winter—today hitting a high of forty degrees. The sleet on the ground was finally melting, giving me the slightest bit of hope that spring was right around the corner._

_"Long day at work, hun?" Mom asked Dad._

_"Rough, still no leads. But it makes it all worth while to come back home to this little angel." Dad smiled to me as I took off my pea coat. Dad was the head of the Boston police department. He was a pretty big deal. And though he wouldn't tell me much about his cases since I was only seven—almost eight FYI—I did know he was working on one about the cities latest criminal dubbed the 'Boston Killer'. Dad had been working tirelessly to take him down—he was basically a superhero. Dad sat down at the kitchen table, opening up his briefcase before discussing some more information about the case with mom. Struggling at first, I finally hopped up on one of the kitchen counters, looking at my mom's cookbook even though I had no clue what half these words meant. Ugh, ew, why would someone make a vegetable casserole. Like every other seven year old in the world, I hated anything green and not covered in sugar._

_"Hayley, what did I say about sitting on the counters?" Mom rang and walked over to me, tapping her fingernails against the granite._

_"Sorry." I mumbled, putting the cookbook down but still not getting off. Mom happily rolled her eyes and smiled, messing up the top of my hair and tending herself back to the stove to stir a pot of water._

_"How was Lucy's, kiddo?" Dad called from the kitchen table._

_"Good. She showed me her new mermaid Barbie I've been wanting forever now. It was so cool."_

_"Well your birthday's coming up. You never know what you might get." A smile tugged at Moms lip._

_"But I can't wait that long. They'll have a new one out by then." I exclaimed with a dragged out sigh. Mom and Dad both smiled at my childish ways. The doorbell rang, catching our attention._

_"I'll get it, it's probably James." Dad stated, getting up from the table._

_"Who knows, maybe if you do really well on that science test tomorrow, you'll find a surprise when you get home." Mom teased. I jumped off the counter and decided to follow my dad into the foyer where the man, James, closed the front door and locked it. I didn't think anything of it until he pulled out something from his pocket. And just like that, all I could hear was a firework like noise echo in my ears._

_Boom._

Boom. Metal clanked against metal as the front doors of the school slammed shut. "Are you stupid? You just risked your life for a piece of metal?" Scott shouted at Stiles. The three of us were inside the school. My fingers tingled and my eyes felt like they were about to fall out of their sockets. Derek Hale had just died. He was the fourth person to die in my presence. My breath was stuck inside my lungs. My head was a mess, I couldn't breathe. I thought I'd throw up, I thought I'd faint. I didn't understand, my brain kept me from doing so. While everything around me was in fast forward, I stayed motionless in the middle of all the commotion. How could this happen? I was just talking to him mere minutes ago. I wanted to sit down but I couldn't move my leg muscles. I felt weak as my heartbeat was racing inside of me. Was this how heart attacks started?

"That wont hold will it?" Scott asked.

"Probably not." Stiles agreed.

"Hayley, come on. We need to move." Scott encouraged, putting his hands on my shoulder. I couldn't shake myself from the memory. It was replaying over and over in my head.

"I—I can't." My lips quivered. Scott realized I was going into shock. He could hear my heart beat rampant in his ears.

"What's—" Stiles didn't get to finish his question before Scott gave him 'the look' where he needed to shut his mouth.

"Hayley, come on. If we're going to be safe, we need to go." Scott tried to rationalize. I reluctantly swallowed back the fear in my throat. It tasted like bile. Outside, we could hear the alpha howl and the three of us looked at each other before running off into a sprint. I wasn't going to let reminiscing get me killed. We ran into one of the English classrooms and started moving the desk to block the door.

"This isn't going to hold him." I panted.

"I know." Scott agreed.

"It's your boss."

"What?" Scott and I cried.

"Deaton? The alpha? Your boss!" Stiles stated.

"No!" Scott refused.

"Yes!" Stiles disagreed. "He's a murdering psycho werewolf!"

"It can't be!" Scott cried.

"Deaton disappears and then that thing shows up ten seconds later to toss twenty feet through the air? That's not convenient timing?" Stiles sarcastically asked.

"Scott, he's right." I hated to agree.

"It's not him!"

"He killed Derek." Thanks for stating the obvious, Stiles.

"No! Derek's not dead, he-he can't be dead."

"Blood spurted out of his mouth, okay? That doesn't exactly qualify as a minor injury! He's dead and we're next."

"Okay!" I cried. "Stop! Please! We need to get out of here now. We need to get to the Jeep and seriously contemplate quitting our jobs." The two boys agreed. Stiles, flickering his flashlight around, lead us over to the wall of windows but stopped Scott from opening them.

"They don't open. The schools climate controlled." Stiles informed.

"So we'll break them!" Scott thought.

"Well if he can't smell us in here he'll definitely hear us." I said.

"Then we run fast. Really fast." Stiles rolled his head back and tried to think of a plan. "Stiles, what's wrong with your Jeep?" The three of us looked out the window. The parking lot was so dark it was hard to see what Scott was talking about.

"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong." Stiles differed.

"No, it's bent." Scott realized.

"You mean like dented?" Stiles moved closer to the window.

"No, I mean bent!"

"What the hell?" Stiles asked, narrowing his eyes to the crappy blue jeep. None of us were able to say another word before the glass of the window shattered and something barely missed chopping our heads off. We all dove to the floor. The metal object scraped against the floor. Stiles shined his flashlight onto it and I could feel my heart drop into my stomach.

"That son of a bitch." I gasped.

"That's my battery!" Stiles quietly yelled, standing up. Scott and I pulled him back to the floor.

"He _could_ be right outside!"

"Could be? He is right outside!" I exclaimed.

"Just let me take a look." Scott peaked out the window. Scott scanned the parking lot carefully. Stiles asked if he saw anything but Scott said he hadn't.

"Move now?" Stiles quietly asked.

"Move now." Scott agreed with a nervous nod. We carefully moved into the hallway. Scott was playing line leader before Stiles pulled him back from going in one direction of the hallway.

"No, no, no! Somewhere without windows!"

"Every single room in this building has windows!"

"Somewhere with less windows." Stiles corrected.

"If you think hiding in a closet is a good idea, think again." I shook my head.

"The locker room!" Scott instantly remembered. We weaved our way around the hallways and finally made it to the locker room.

"Call your dad." I ordered Stiles as we made our way inside the locker room.

"And tell him what?"

"Anything! Gas leak, fire, just whatever! If that thing sees a parking lot filled with cop cars it'll take off!" Scott explained.

"What if it doesn't? What if it goes completely terminator and tears apart every cop in sight? Including my dad?" Stiles retorted. He had a point.

"They have guns though." I thought.

"Yeah and Derek had to be shot with a wolfsbane laced bullet to slow him down. Remember that?"

"Vividly." I clenched my jaw. "What if we anonymously called Allison's dad?"

"Do you have his number?" Scott asked.

"Well, no…"

"Exactly." He spat. "We have to find a way out. We'll just run for it."

"There's nothing near the school for at least a mile." Stiles reminded.

"What about Derek's car?" Scott suggested.

"It could work if we had the keys. They're in his jacket." I said.

"We go outside, get the keys off his body—ugh—then we take his car!" Stiles smiled.

"And him." Scott and I stated concurrently.

"Fine, whatever." Stiles rolled his eyes and turned towards the locker room door. As Stiles reached for the handle, Scott stopped him.

"I think I heard something." Scott whispered.

"Wait, what?" Stiles cried out in a whisper.

"Quiet!" We listened intently to hear footsteps coming towards the door. Scott snatched Stiles' flashlight from him and turned it off while we began backing up away from the door. Scott ordered us to hide and immediately, Stiles slid himself into a locker and shut the door. Scott and I did the same. The smell of cheap cologne and sweat wafted up my nostrils and made me want to gag. I hold my breath, trying to slow my heart rate, and watch through the slats of the metal as a man made his way over to the locker Scott was hiding in and opened it. Scott let out a piercing scream, causing Stiles and I to ambush the locker while he was preoccupied. Instead, the alpha screamed out in shock causing us to realize that the man wasn't so much the alpha.

He was the janitor.

"Shhh! Quiet!" Stiles tried to get the guy to shut up.

"Quiet? What the hell are you trying to do, kill me? All of you get out."

"Listen to us for a second, plea—"

"No, okay? Get the hell out of here right now!" He, literally, threw the three of us out the door.

"Wait!" Stiles cried.

"Just shut up and go." The janitor spat before being dragged back into the locker room. The door slammed shut and he began screaming. Blood was spurting onto the door's window. The three of us gasped at the sight. Scott rushed forward and tried opening the door, only to find it locked.

"Are you stupid? Go, go!" I grabbed Scott and we began running as fast as we could. We pushed through the back doors of the school only for them to push us back. They wouldn't budge.

"What the hell?" Stiles mumbled. Scott slithered his head through the small crack in the door to find a dumpster blocking our exit.

"He blocked us in." I realized. Stiles continued to shove the door, hoping the little bit of push ups he did gave him batman strength at a moment like this. Shocker: _It didn't._ Scott grabbed Stiles and we began running away.

"I'm not dying here! I'm not dying at school!" Stiles panicked.

"We're not going to die."

"God, what is he doing? What does he want?" I hyperventilated.

"Me! Derek says it's stronger with a pack." Scott clarified.

"So it wants you?" I asked, just thinking it wanted to kill us.

"Great, a psychotic werewolf who's into teamwork. That's beautiful." Stiles sarcastically snipped. Scott stopped us as he looked out the windows. I looked over to where Scott was staring at to find the Alpha, who looked like something out of a horror movie, standing on the roof. And then he charged towards us. We started running as fast as our legs could take us. There was a loud crash behind us when the alpha flung himself through the window. He roared, chasing us. We ran down a set of stairs and down several different hallways I didn't even think existed in the school. My lungs burned like they were on fire, I couldn't breath. We somehow ended up in the basement and hid ourselves behind a set of lockers, as the alpha was right on our tails.

"Hayley, he can hear your heart beat." Scott whispered.

"I can't help it." I whimpered back, attempting to hold my breath. We could hear the feral hisses of the alpha come closer and closer before Scott instructed us to run. Stiles shushed us as he grabbed his keys from his jacket pocket and threw them across the room, causing the alpha to attack them. We jumped back and slammed the door closed, causing the alpha to get trapped in the other half of the basement.

"The desk! Come on, the desk!" Stiles ordered. We immediately took the lone desk in the room and pushed it against the door as a barrier.

"This isn't going to hold him for long." I heaved. The alpha shrieked as he pushed against the metal door and it wouldn't budge. I jumped back in fear. The table was the length of the room's hallway. Scott and I were stuck on one side and Stiles was on the other.

"Come on, get across. Come on!" Stiles ordered. Scott climbed over the table first then my turn came. The second I climbed onto the table, the alpha slammed himself against the door again, causing the table to wobble. I cried out, causing Scott to act immediately and sweep me off the table.

"Are you okay?" He comforted, cupping his hands around my cheeks. I meekly nodded. Stiles leaned over across the desk to look out the small door window.

"What are you doing?"

"I just want to get a look at it."

"Are you crazy?" I exclaimed, motioning to the door where just a piece of wood blocked us from a walking death machine.

"Look, it's trapped. Okay? It's not going to get out." Stiles climbed onto the table without another word from Scott and I and peered out the window with a smile on his face. "Yeah that's right we got you. I'm not scared of this thing." Stiles taunted.

"Really? Because I'm pretty freaking terrified." I spat. The alpha shook the door to intentionally terrify Stiles, which worked since he fell off the desk. The alphas long, hair clawed hand brushed over the window.

"Not scared of you! Alright? Because you're in there and we're out here. You're not going anyw—" A loud crash echoed through where the alpha was being kept hostage. Part of the ceiling tiles fell to the ground in a big cloud of dust. Our eyes crawled up to the ceiling, hearing the alpha crawling through the air ducts. If the alpha didn't want to rip us to shreds before, he definitely wanted to now.

Thanks Stiles.

We took off again, heading towards the entrance of the school.

"Wait!" Scott gasped, stopping short. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Stiles asked.

"It sounds like a phone ringing." Scott looks to me to see if the culprit was my own phone. I shook my head, remembering leaving my phone in Derek's cup holder.

"What?"

"I know that ringtone! It's Allison's phone." Scott realized, causing all of our hearts to stop beating for half a second.

"What is she doing here?" I asked, running a clammy hand through my hair.

"Hell if I knew!" Scott snapped back. Stiles snatched his phone from his jacket pocket before dialing Allison and handing the phone to Scott. "No, it's me. Where are you?" He urgently asked. "Where are you right now? Where? Where are you exactly? Get to the lobby! Go now!" Scott hung up the phone after Allison replied something short. The three of us eventually found a hallway that was familiar and burst through the doors to the lobby. Allison came rushing out a door the same time and I could feel stress lift off my shoulders. She was okay.

"Why did you come? What are you doing here?" Scott immediately asked. Allison looks more than confused.

"Because you asked me too." She innocently replied.

"I asked you too?" There was a short pause while Allison whipped out her phone and pulled up a message for us to see. It was from Scott and it said for her to meet us at the school because it was urgent. Another wave of nausea rolled through me.

"Why do I get the feeling that you didn't send this message?" Allison's eyes trailed from Scott, to Stiles, and finally me. She could detect the worry all over our faces.

"Because I didn't." Scott shook his head.

"Okay, did you drive here?" Stiles moved on.

"Jackson did." She simply replied.

"Jackson's here?" I yelped. If Jackson was here that meant—

"And Lydia! What's going on? Who sent this text?" Allison's phone began blaring once more before she answers it, asking whoever is on the other line where they were. The doors beside us open, causing the four of us to cringe. Into the lobby came Lydia and Jackson.

"Finally. Can we go now?" Lydia, obviously more than impatient waiting for Allison, asked. Above us, the air ducts begin to screech and bend.

"Run!" Scott yelled. We rushed up the stairs just as the ceiling collapsed and down came the alpha in yet another cloud of dust. We ran to the lunchroom and slammed the doors behind us. Scott reached up to lock the doors and demanded help from the others. Jackson and Scott began piling milk machines and chairs in front of the door to form a barrier while Allison, Lydia, Stiles, and I all stood in shock trying to catch our breath.

"Guys, just wait a second!" Stiles cried. Allison and Lydia began helping the boys move chairs. I turn towards the back wall to grab more chairs before I stop in my place.

"You've got to be kidding me." I mumbled. The back wall wasn't a wall—it was a wall of pure windows.

"Hello!" Stiles shouted to get everyone's attention since whatever he was doing before hadn't been working. "Okay, nice work. Really beautiful job everyone. Now, what should we do about the twenty foot wall of windows?" Stiles turned around and points to the glass. If we weren't in a situation like this, I would have laughed at Stiles' sounding like Coach Finstock.

"Can somebody please explain to me what's going on because I am freaking out here! And—and I'd really like to know why." Allison begged while holding onto Scott's arm for protection. Scott pulled away to go think of an answer. Jackson, Lydia, and Allison looked to us for answers.

"Somebody killed the janitor." I admitted, seeing my brother stuck in a quandary.

"What?" Lydia squeaked.

"Yeah, the janitors dead." Stiles gravely agreed.

"What are they talking about? Is this a joke?" Allison faked a laugh.

"Who killed him?" Jackson asked. I was going to leave Scott to answer that one, I didn't have a clue of what to say.

"No, no, no. This was supposed to be over. The mountain lion killed—"

"Don't you get it? There wasn't a mountain lion!" Jackson yelled in Lydia's face.

"Who was it? What does he want?" Allison screamed at me. I didn't answer. "What's happening? Scott!"

"I-I don't know! I just—if we go out there he's going to kill us." Scott stuttered.

"Us? He's going to kill us?" Lydia gulped.

"Who? Who is it?" Allison wanted an answer right now. She was sick of the games Scott was playing. If only she knew we were trying to protect her.

"It's Derek. It's Derek Hale." Scott admitted. _Wait—what?_

"Derek killed the janitor?" Jackson asked. Dumbfounded. Was Scott serious? Derek just got killed for us, he saved Scott's life, and helped him understand his newfound werewolf-ism and he blames Derek?

"The guy who drove us home?" Allison piped up. "Are—are you sure?"

"I saw him." Scott lied.

"The mountain lion—"

"No! Derek killed them!" Scott interrupted Lydia.

"All of them?" Allison's gasped. Scott doesn't dare to look at us.

"Yes! Starting with his own sister." Stiles held me back from going over and killing Scott. How could he think of even blaming Laura's death on Derek? Did he really hate his guts that much? "It's been Derek the whole time. He's in here with us and if we don't get out now, he's going to kill us too."

"Not before I kill you." I muttered, shaking Stiles' hand off my shoulder.

"Call the cops." Jackson immediately told Stiles.

"No." He simply answered back.

"What do you mean, no?"

"I mean no. You want to hear it in Spanish? No." Stiles spat in the best Hispanic accent he can muster. "Look, Derek killed three people, okay? We don't know what he's armed with." Really Stiles, you were going along with Scott's plan too?

"Your dad is armed with an entire Sherriff's department! Call him!" Jackson growled.

"I'm calling." Lydia interrupted.

"No, Lydia. Will you just hold on a second?" Stiles advances towards Lydia until Jackson corners him. Lydia dialed _911_ before frantically telling them that we were trapped in the school. The call ended much shorted than I thought it would.

"She hung up on me." Lydia stuttered.

"The police hung up on you?" I rose my brows. If that happened that would have to mean—

"She got a tip warning them that there are going to be prank calls about a break in at the school. She said if I call again they were going to trace it and have me arrested."

"So, call again!" I urged.

"No, they won't trace a call. They'll send a car to your house before they send anyone here." Stiles realized.

"What is this? Why does Derek want to kill us? Why is he killing anyone?" Allison questioned. We all look to Scott.

"Why is everyone looking at me?"

"You were the one who saw Derek." I shrugged.

"Is he the one that sent her the text?" Lydia asked.

"No! I mean, I don't know."

"Is he the one that called the police?" Allison asked.

"I don't know!" Scott finally snapped. Allison shrunk back like a toddler being scolded. Stiles pushed Scott away from the group. I walk away on my own and leaned against a wall to try to control my mind. I couldn't think straight. I couldn't even see straight. I blinked away tears forming in my eyes. How was this happening? I couldn't die tonight. I couldn't die like this. I didn't want to die. Not now. I burried my head into my hands and can feel the stinging of salty tears behind my eyes. I didn't make it out of _that_ night alive just to be ripped to shreds by a psychotic mythical creature. Allison came over to me, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder while she listened to Stiles and Jackson bicker over something I wasn't interested about.

"Hey, it's okay." She comforted. I looked up with watery eyes to the doe eyed brunette. No, it wasn't okay.

I hadn't been interested in what Stiles and Jackson were fighting over until Stiles got the balls to punch Jackson in the face.

"Jackson! Are you okay?" Allison gasped, leaving my side and rushing to his. Lydia looked over to me, a frustrated look overcoming her features. She didn't want to see Allison helping _her_ boyfriend. To say the least, Lydia was protective of what was hers. I ripped my eyes away from Lydia as the cafeteria doors beside me begin shaking. I jump out of my spot and go to Scott's side for protection. The pounding on the doors got louder as the alpha tried to break the barrier. Stiles, who was finally leaving his dad a voicemail, tried to talk over the loud banging of metal on metal.

"There's a stairwell in the kitchen." Stiles remembered after hanging up.

"But that only leads up." Scott realized.

"Up is better than here." I fearfully say as bolts begin unscrewing from the doorframe. The seven of us take off in a run up the stairs and take refuge in Harris' classroom.

"Great, I hate being here on a good day." I huffed under my breath while Scott uses some of the furniture in the room to block the door. We could hear the alpha in the hallway, his feral growls coming closer and closer. We kept ourselves quiet as a large figure's shadow passed by the door. Once the shadow disappeared, everything became quiet until Jackson began bickering with Scott and Stiles again.

"I'm getting the key." Scott stated, catching my attention.

"What? No!" I protested.

"Someone has to get the key if we want to get out of here."

"You can't go out there unarmed." Allison reasoned. Scott grabbed a pointer Harris' used when he felt too lazy to walk during class. All of us rolled our eyes. That was his weapon of choice?

"It's better than nothing!" Scott defended.

"There's got to be something else." Stiles thought.

"There is." Lydia eyed the chemical cabinet.

"What are we going to do, throw acid on him?" Stiles cried.

"No! Like a firebomb! And there is everything in there to make a self-igniting Molotov cocktail.

"A self igniting…" Stiles words mimicked my thoughts.

"Molotov cocktail." Lydia finishes and realized everyone was staring at her. "What? I read it somewhere." She shrugged it off, pretending she wasn't as smart as she really was.

"Well, we don't have a key for that either." Stiles reminds. Jackson rolls his eyes before jamming his elbow into the glass. He brushed the shattered glass off his leather jacket. Lydia proceeds to mix together different chemicals, pouring them through funnels and beakers like she was a trained chemist.

"I'm going with you." I announced when Lydia hands the finished product to Scott.

"No you're not." Scott and Stiles simultaneously declined.

"Yes, I am. I'm not letting you go out there alone, Scott."

"No. This, this is insane. You guys can't do this. You can not go out there!" Allison sniffled.

"We can't just wait for Stiles' dad to check his messages." I said.

"You two could die! Do you get that? He's killed three people." Allison whispered.

"And we're next." Scott laid on the drama extra thick. Allison pulled Scott aside while Stiles does the same with me. I can hear Allison lightly crying to my brother.

"You're seriously going to go out there?" Stiles asked.

"Yes, I am. Two is better than one. He can't catch both of us." Stiles opened his mouth to object but all he can form is jumbled words. He pulled me into a hug and tucked his head into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around Stiles' small frame and took in his scent—a mixture of pine needles and an Abercrombie store.

"Hayley, please don't go." Lydia's voice cracked.

"Don't act like I'm not coming back." I forced a smile on my trembling lips.

"Please, please stay here." She begged. I shook my head. After Allison gave Scott one last kiss and we walked towards the door, staring at the knob like it was our enemy. With a deep breath, the two of us squeezed out the door and silently took off into the dark hallway. We walked in silence; I silently counted the steps I take in my mind. I followed wherever Scott was taking us—wherever he smelled the janitors' blood pooling.

"You know, I thought I'd die at the hands of a gun. Not of a werewolf." I chuckled sadly, trying to lighten the mood.

"We're not going to die." Scott disagreed.

"I don't want to." My voice cracked. "But how many times can you cheat death?"

"As long as I'm here, forever. I'm never going to let anything happen to you, Hayley." Scott promised, bringing a tiny smile to my face. We became silent again, walking down a flight of stairs. "I panicked when I said it was Derek."

"I figured." My eyes shifted to the floor.

"You're not going to grill me on blaming him?" Scott wondered.

"Sure I don't approve of it. But, you panicked. Nobody deserves to have murder pinned on them after they're gone and can't defend themselves."

"You're right." Scott sighed. We turned quiet and we soon found ourselves entering the gym. We stopped next to the bleachers as Scott began sniffing the air again.

"Why would he move the body here?" I whispered, looking around for any sign of the psycho wolf. The gym was empty. With another sniff of the air, Scott walked to the opening to the underside of the bleachers.

"I smell him under here." Scott mumbled. Why would the alpha move the janitor? We weaved ourselves in-between and over metal columns and bars. The scent of blood wafted up my nose. Scott stopped dead in his tracks, causing me to smash into his back. I felt something drip onto the top of my head. My fingers grazed the top of my hair and came back wet—with blood.

"Uhh..Hayley." Scott stuttered. I looked up to see where Scott was eyeing. The janitor's mutilated and bloody body was hanging from the bleachers' rafters. What could drive a person to maul somebody so horribly? The janitor's eyes were open, unresponsively gawking at Scott and I. They were crying out for help, but we were too late. Scott shoved the Molotov cocktail at me while he went to grab the keys from the janitor's belt loop. A loud screech echoed through the gym when Scott jingled the keys. That was way too loud to be from the keys.

"Scott, what was that?" I squeaked. The noise echoed again, but this time it didn't stop. I thought my eyes were deceiving me at first but I continued to watch the bleachers rolling in towards us. Scott continued on to reach for the keys.

"We need to run. Now!" I urged, pulling on the sleeve of Scott's jacket. My heart raced as he continued to grab the keys. "Scott!" I screamed. Scott finally reached the keys and we took off in a sprint literally running for our lives. Scott grabbed the beaker from my hands and began pulling me to run faster. Just as we were about to be crushed into a pancake, we tumbled out onto the floor gasping for air when the bleachers locked shut. Then came the growling. My heart stopped in my chest. Scott helped me stand up and our eyes fell on the alpha.

"Come on. Come and get me." Scott taunted. The alpha plowed straight for us. Scott wound his arm back and threw the Molotov cocktail at the red-eyed monster. I expected a big explosion of fire when the glass broke and drenched the chemical mixture onto the alpha but I was disappointed.

_Seriously, Lydia? _You send us off with one weapon…

Nothing happened. The alpha only paused for a second, but he was completely unfazed. We turned on our heel, ready to run, until Scott was pulled down.

"Scott!" I yelled. The alpha dragged my brother down.

"Hayley run! Go!"

"N—" I was about to protest about how I wouldn't leave without him.

"Go!" He screamed just as the alpha turned towards me. Reluctantly, I dashed out of the gym and took off into one of the main hallways. There was a mantra in my head telling me to keep running. My heavy breathing and footsteps were echoing in my head, trying to attempt to drown out the sound of the alphas snarls coming from behind me. There was no way I could outrun a werewolf, I needed to find a place to hide. I swung myself into another hallway before I desperately looked for a place to hide. I didn't have many options; the alpha could hear my heartbeat from anywhere. But hiding somewhere would be safer than staying out in the open. I could hear the alpha's growls but when I looked behind me, he wasn't there. I quickly flung myself into the nearest supply closet and shut the door behind me immediately. I cupped my hand over my mouth and tried to control my breathing. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to pretend that this wasn't actually happening. A loud roar from the alpha ricocheted through the school. I continued to squeeze my eyes tight and press my palm harder against my lips. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.

_This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. This had to be some sick nightmare. I must have had hot coco before I went to bed. Mom always said that would give me bad dreams. My hand pressed against my trembling lips as I hid in the upstairs guest room closet. The house grew silent after many gunshots and angry yelling. I tried as hard as I could to listen for any footsteps, any creaks in the floorboards. But I could hear any. My heart was drumming inside my ears. There were hot tears streaming down my swollen, red cheeks. My body was shaking. He couldn't find me. If he did, I was dead. I clutched the bottom of my rib cage, feeling a warm wetness seep through my clothing. He tried shooting me just like he did with my parents. But unlike my parents, I was small enough where I could hide between pieces of furniture. I thought guns only existed in wars—not in suburban Boston. My dad came home with a gun tucked into his belt once, and when I asked about it he said only the good guys were allowed to have them here. This guy wasn't a good guy. Dad—where was dad? He hadn't been fatally shot at first, so was he okay? He had to be. He's dad, he's was always okay. He had gotten up after he was shot, so he was fine. He was probably just protecting us all now. What about mom—where was mom? She wasn't calling my name looking for me. Maybe she was hiding till this was all over too. I wanted more than anything to be with her right now. She did this thing whenever I was scared where she rubbed my back a certain way and it would calm me down. I wanted that more than anything too. How long have I been in here? Five minutes? Ten? I was never good at telling time, I was still learning how to tell it! Another tremor stirred through my body as I could hear the faintest sound of a police siren cry through the air a few blocks down. I didn't think much of it. That happened often in Boston. You could hear everything all the way from Marlborough to Cambridge. Boston was never quiet; it was like my own New York. The sirens began getting closer and closer, silently making me wish I had grabbed the house phone to call 911 so that the police could help me too. Then, just like the flip of a light switch, a boom echoed through the walls of the house. My heart jumped into my throat, knowing deep inside it was another gunshot. Then, once again, everything got silent. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Nothing moved. Nobody screamed._

Tears escaped when I reopened my eyes to find myself back in the school. The salty tears rolled down my cheek and onto my hand, which was still covering my mouth. Reluctantly, I placed my hands back at my side when I heard the school unusually silent. All I had on my mind was Scott. His name was flashing right before my eyes and I kept wondering if he was okay. I needed to know what happened to him. If the alpha touched one hair on his body, I'd kill him myself.

"Beacon Hills police department! Come out with your hands up!" Sherriff Stilinski's yell was muffled. I couldn't tell if I should be ecstatic or absolutely terrified that the cops were here—what if the alpha came and hurt them? Alpha wise, all was calm inside the school. I could hear officers talking on radios. There wasn't any screaming. I turned the doorknob to the closet and tried to push the door open, but it wouldn't budge. I jiggled the knob a couple times before beginning to freak out.

"Hello? I'm in here!" I yelled, continuing to jiggle on the knob. Why wasn't the door opening? "Someone get me out." I cried, slapping my palms on the wood door. "Please, someone get me out." My palms were stinging and finally I could hear movement outside the door and finally the knob turned from the outside and the door opened. All I could see at first was a bright light.

_A bright light blinded me as the closet doors swung open. I whimpered, squinting my eyes before seeing the familiar face of an officer. _

At first, I was in fear it was the alpha but instead several faces of police officers greeted me. I was swooped out of the closet in record time while three officers began shooting questions at me. Sherriff Stilinski draped a security blanket over my shoulders and began walking me towards the front while officers were asking more questions that I continued to ignore.

"Where's my brother?" I asked, swinging myself around to look for Scott. I couldn't see him anywhere. The hallway was just filled with officers—no teenage werewolves or crazed psychotic alphas. "Where's my brother? Someone tell me where my brother is." I was going on a mantra. I could hear voices incoming on the walky-talky attached to Sherriff's hip. They were saying something about victims but I was in too much of a blur to listen to every word. Sherriff lead me out of the front doors as I continued squirming in his grasps and asking for my brother. Red and blue light emitting from patrol cars ambulances blinded me as I adjusted to being outside.

"Where is he? Where is my brother?" I yelled, looking through the crowd. Standing alongside Stiles next to an ambulance, I spotted a shaggy haired brunette I identified as my brother. I tossed off the security blanket and took off in a sprint towards Scott. The second we met and my arms wrapped around him, I felt whole—at least for the moment. That broken feeling in my heart was taped back together. Scott was okay; he didn't have a scratch on him.

"I'm okay." Scott comforted, running a hand down my back. I buried my face into his shoulder and let his jacket soak up the tears streaming down my face. "You're okay. You're okay."

"Don't leave me. Don't ever leave me." I quietly sobbed, hugging him a little tighter to just soak up the moment that he was okay.

* * *

**A/N: Give me some love in reviews please. It has been a tough week for me and I'm having a rough time recovering. I love all my readers! By the way, the things in italics are flash backs to the night you all are wondering about Hayley's life And also, if you listen to the song "To build a home" at the end of this chapter by The Cinematic Orchestra, it might make you cry. It just goes along so well with the scene. ENJOY.**

**QUESTIONS: how do you think Hayley is going to react to Derek's "death"? and how do you think Hayley will, deal with all the aftermath.**


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